The Madness That is My Life
by catinthehat19
Summary: Addie Malfoy's To Do List: Get Scorp and Rose together, don't argue with Albus Potter, stop failing Defense, stop finding Albus attractive, staring into his beautiful eyes, stop getting butterflies around him and somehow survive this school year without ending up in Mungo's. Ha. If only it was so easy.
1. And So the Madness Begins

Something is poking me. I am trying to sleep and something is poking me.

I turn on my side and hope the poking will stop.

It doesn't. I get poked harder now.

Whatever is poking me will die. Slowly and painfully. It. Will. Die.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I AM TRYING TO SLEEP AND YOU POKING ME ISN'T HELPING?!" I pulled myself out from my covers and turned to see the face of my prick of a cousin/brother, Scorpius.

"Well someone is in a bad mood," Scorpius said, smirking.

"Yeah well I have an arsehole with a death wish poking me," I said back. I pulled my covers back over my head. "Now go away."

"Actually I was sent here to wake you up," Scorpius said. I can't see his face because I am under the covers but I am sure he's wearing that stupid smirk of his. And mine, I guess. Since we have the same Malfoy Smirk. But whatever.

"Who in their right mind would send you here to wake me up?" Uncle Draco and Aunt Astoria know that if you wake me up, on a weekend or over summer vacation, you are going to die. Maybe they want Scorpius to die? Well their wish will come true very soon if he doesn't leave.

"My mum. She says it's time for you to get out of bed." I heard him walking over to the door, thankful that he is finally leaving.

"Well I am not getting out of bed." Not unless there is a valid reason. Which there isn't, I'm sure.

"Alright. But the End of Summer party at the Weasley's is going to start in an hour so you might want to get up and fix that mess on your head."

Ok. There is a valid reason.

I practically jumped out of my bed. However this didn't go over well because I was covered in blankets so I ended up landing on the ground, with all the blankets from my bed with me. I could hear Scorpius laughing.

What a prick.

* * *

"Addie, is that really what you are wearing?" Aunt Astoria said when I got downstairs. I looked down at my white sundress. I thought it looked rather cute. It was really the best I could do with only one hour to get completely ready.

"Yes, I wasn't awoken early enough to get completely ready and do my hair. Having curly hair is very time consuming you know," I said.

Astoria sighed as if I was aggravating her.

But it's fine because I know she loves me.

"Well, I think she looks beautiful," I heard Draco say, as he entered the room. He has lost some of his hair, but it was still the signature Malfoy Blonde. Draco is normally the last one to be ready, so we're all normally waiting for him. "Now is everyone ready to go?"

"No. Your son isn't here yet," Astoria said. "He is still getting ready. Seems like he takes after his father in that department." Well she's in a bad mood today. Maybe it's her time of the month.

"Oh honey," Draco said. He came up and wrapped his arms around her and using a dramatic voice says, "I'm so sorry. How could I have done this to our son? Can you ever forgive me?"

Astoria started smiling at this. She wrapped her arms around him too. Aww they are so cute...

Until they started making out like teenagers.

"Well I'm going to go get Scorpius, okbye." I said and practically ran out of the room.

Let's just say I am scarred for life. It was all I could do not to scream. But I had to get out of there. And so I ran to Scorpius's bedroom.

But seriously what is taking him so long? I would think he's a girl sometimes, if I hadn't grown up with him.

I entered his room without knocking and instantly regretted it. It smelled...bad. Not like the normal teenage boy bad but like...I don't even know. Like there were 30 things of cologne in the air. Also Scorpius was standing in a ridiculous outfit. A tux jacket and boxers. I worry about him.

"Um Scorp?" I said covering my nose with my hand. "Are you almost ready?"

"No!" He threw a pair of pants across the room. "I have nothing to wear!"

Ok. He is WAY too in touch with is feminine side.

"Scorpius it isn't that hard," I walked over to his closet and pulled out a plaid shirt and a pair of shorts. "Wear this."

"But this is so plain. No one will think I look good especially not-"

"SCORPIUS AND ADDISON ARE YOU READY TO GO YET?! WE ARE ALREADY TWENTY MINUTES LATE!" Astoria yelled from downstairs. Well at least her and Draco stopped going at it.

"Wear it. Plaid always makes boys look better. And don't wear cologne," I said as he reached for a bottle. "Your room smells enough that it will rub off on you. Now let's go before your mother kills us."

We got downstairs and apparated to Hermione and Ron Weasley's house. Well, Draco and Astoria apparated, while Scorp and I held their hands. But whatever.

That's when I actually took a good look at Scorpius to make sure I didn't put anything horrible on him. And I didn't. He looked hot.

...in a non-creepy way since he's my cousin and incest is gross.

Anyway...

"You should let me dress you more often," I said as he and I walked behind his parents. "I do a pretty good job. Every girl will be practically all over you."

"I don't need every girl. Only one." At this point we reached the door and Draco knocked. Meanwhile I was in shock over what I just heard.

"Wait, what? Do you have a crush?! TELL ME!" I said, trying to keep quite so that his parents don't hear even though they are only five feet in front of us.

"No. I don't."

"Yes you do. You just said so."

"No I didn't. And no I don't"

"Yes you did and yes you do."

"No I don't-"

"Well if it isn't the Malfoy family!" I looked up at the door and saw Hermione Weasley standing there, inviting us in. Scorpius ran right in as if afraid that I am going to hurt him because he knows I am right and he is wrong.

Okay I know that this seems weird. The Malfoy's going over to the Weasley's house for a party. But the thing is, Draco and Harry and Ron made up. Sorta. They were…civil, I guess is the best word. Hermione and Astoria met at work and became friends so then Harry and Ron had to forgive Draco, unless the wanted all the get togethers that Astoria had Hermione had to be awkward.

But that didn't exactly mean that they liked each other.

I walked into the house and began to search for my best friend, Rose Weasley. We have been best friends since first year when we were both sorted into Gryffindor. One of us knew the other better then they did. We were perfect best friends like we were connected at the head or shared an arm or something like that.

"ADDIE!" I heard and turned around and see said best friend (see above) running toward me, her red hair as red as ever, opening her arms wide only to hit someone in the face.

Yes, this is my best friend.

No, you cannot judge.

Rose, being Rose, made sure the person was alright and even made small talk with them before coming back and attacking me with a hug. I hadn't seen her for a few weeks which was a very long time to go without seeing my bestest friend in the whole wide world.

"Rosie, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm good!" she said. "I can't wait to be back at Hogwarts though. I love Mum and Dad but they can become overbearing after a while-"

"Hello there Addie!" said Ron Weasley, who came up to Rose and I. Well stumbled is a better word. He seemed a little tipsy. I looked over at Rose and saw that she looks horrified.

"Hello Mr. Weasley!" I replyied I thought he was funny, even if he hated my uncle. "How are you?"

"I'm great! This is a great party don't you think?" Ron said, quite loudly. He was drawing all sorts of attention to us, which made Rose a little embarrassed.

"Dad, Addie and I are going to head outside, why don't you go find Mum-" Rose started but was interrupted by her dad.

"Well Rosie, I hope you and Addie have fun! But Rosie," He put his hands on her shoulder, acting like he was going to give her great advice. Which meant that whatever he was going to say in his drunken state would probably be hilarious. "I need you, to stay away from that Scorpius boy."

To say Rose turned bright red at this point would be an understatement. She turned into a tomato. And since her hair was red, she looked really funny.

"I know you have a crush on him," Ron said making really funny gestures with his hand. Rose turned even MORE bright red (I didn't even think that was possible since she was already SO red. But she did. That girl never seizes to amaze me) and I started giggling. "But he is the son of Draco Malfoy. Who is not very good. So stay away from him. Actually, stay away from boys in general." At this I started giggling even harder because 1) Rose is boy crazy and 2) Rose is too crazy about Scorpius to even look at other boys.

While Rose stood there being a tomato and I stood there giggling like a drunk person, Ron stumbled off to drunkenly greet other people. Once he left Rose punched me in the arm.

"OW!" I said. Because Rose is a lot stronger then she looks. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"That was for bloody giggling while my dad embarrassed me!" Rose yelled. "He thinks I like Scorpius. I mean honestly. That's just…REDICULOUS! How could I even like Scorpius?! He's so, so…" Rose seemed to have to think about something wrong with Scorpius that would somehow prove she doesn't like him.

"So, what Rose?" I said. "So…perfect for you and that is why you like him so much?"

"Exactly!" Rose yelled in agreement. Then she thought of what she said. "NO! NO! I didn't mean that! NO! I DON'T like him!"

"Alright Rose, whatever you say," I said. But I knew better. She liked him so much. "So since you don't like Scorpius, what is the boy situation like?"

"Just the normal situation. So basically all family for me."

"And what is wrong with your family, Ms. Rose?" James Sirius Potter came up behind us and asked. "Hey Addie, looking good." He said and winked at me. But it didn't mean anything. We have had this back and forth for a while. Ever since I was in second year. At first I was all embarrassed but then it just became a normal thing for us. He doesn't actually think of me this way though. He is really overprotective. Almost more then Scorpius. He really is like a big brother to me.

...a big brother who flirts with me. But whatever.

"James!" I said and hugged him. James was a year older then me, Rose and Scorpius so I don't see him too often because he is always hanging out with his friends. But that didn't stop James and I from becoming pretty good friends.

He hugged me back and said down into my blonde curls, "Well I sure am glad that our parents don't hate each other anymore. Because then I wouldn't be able to see your beautiful face and your hot body."

I blushed and laughed until I heard, "Well if you don't get your hands off of my cousin then you might not be alive to see her again." Scorpius. Lovely to see you again.

James took his hands off me and said to Scorp, "Dude, come on. She's like my sister. I would never do that." Surprisingly, he didn't seem afraid for his life.

See, when Scorpius goes all macho-man-stay-away-from-my-cousin-or-I-will-kill-you, most boys run. Literally. In the fourth year when I got my first boyfriend, Scorpius punched him in the face and told him that if he ever so much as kissed me then he would be dead. He broke up with me and transferred schools. I wish I was making that up. But I am not.

"Come on Scorpius, like Addie would even LET James do that," Rose said. It appeared to be the first time that Scorpius noticed she was there. All of a sudden his mean I-will-kill-James thing was gone and he got all shy and started stammering. And that is when I knew.

Scorpius liked Rose.

It was all I could do not to jump up and down in the air with glee. Because normally Scorp falls for these stupid, slags who he dumps after a week anyway. But this time he liked Rose! She wasn't stupid OR a slag! And they were PERFECT for each other! I always hoped that they would fall for each other. On their wedding day, when I am Maid of Honor (because no way is Rose not letting me be Maid on Honor. I don't care who has to be "taken care of" I am getting that spot) I will have to make a toast about how I knew they were perfect for each other and how-

"ADDIE." A hand waved in my face, taking me away from the daydream I was having of their wedding. Whoever is doing this will die.

Oh it's Rose. She can live. It takes too much time to break in a new best friend.

"Yes?" I said.

"You were kinda staring off and not paying attention to the conversation," Scorpius said. I tried to send him telepathic messages telling him I know. I don't think he is got them though. "You looked like you were going insane or something."

"Oh she's already insane."

Oh no.

No. No. No.

Not here. I don't want to deal with this stupid tosser today.

Please Merlin? I was having a good day and didn't need HIM to ruin it.

He moved forward from the side of Scorpius. I didn't see him there before. How nice of him to come into the conversation now. NOT.

Right when Scorpius picks a nice girl to fancy, his idiot of a best friend is still around. Why is Scorpius best friends with him? He is nothing but a fucking arsehole-tosser-prick-know-it-all-Mr.-I-think-I-am-better-then-everyone-because-my-dad-saved-the-Wizarding-World.

"It's just another thing that is on her bad qualities list."

Fuck you, Albus Severus Potter.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please Review! :D


	2. The Madness of Sobbing in the Bathroom

"Potter." I said to the prick standing in front of me.

"Well hello to you too, Malfoy." Albus said.

Albus and I hated each other. Plain and simple. Which made it awkward because I was Rose's best friend and Scorpius was my cousin/best friend and Albus was Scorpius's best friend and Rose was his cousin/best friend. So we all hung out together.

To my dismay.

"So how was your summer, Potter?" I asked, taking a step towards him. "Have fun spending all your daddy's money and acting like you're the best bloody thing on the planet?"

"It was great, Malfoy," Albus said, taking a step towards me. "I bought my own street and named it 'Albus Potter Way'. So that people know that I truly am amazing." Stupid git. "And how about you? Have fun with all the boys trying to get in your knickers?" Albus meant it as a low blow, saying that a boy would never want to get in my knickers (which is actually a lie, a lot of boys want to get in my knickers but I don't let them get that far. And Scorpius often beats any boy up who even looks at me. Speaking of Scorpius, he normally he stops us from getting into it, especially when it is concerning talk of my knickers.) I looked around and saw Scorpius and Rose being awkward toward each other, too busy with their own problems to notice us. (THEY ARE SO CUTE IF I WASN'T TALKING TO THE TOSSER IN FRONT OF ME I WOULD SO GO OVER THERE AND HUG THEM AND FORCE THEM TO BE TOGETHER BECAUSE THEY ARE SO PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!)

"You know what, I did. So many boys were stalking me that I had to stay on house arrest and get bodyguards. But of course, being the slag I am," Note: I am not actually a slag. I'm saying that sarcastically. "I still got around. No pregnancies this summer, which is always a good sign."

"Yeah it is," Albus said. We were right in front of each other now, something that often happened with us, because we kept stepping towards each other, as if thinking that we somehow got more power the closer together we were. We argued with each other sarcastic tones, with insults thrown out at each other at a normal voice level. We never really started yelling when we argued. We just take steps toward each other. Since we were so close, I looked up into his emerald green eyes. And how they so perfectly looked on his face. Because even though I hated him, even I had to admit that Albus Potter was hot. Like he-should-be-a-super-model hot. But that didn't change the fact that I hated him. "Would hate to have to bring a child into the world, especially when you are still in school."

We had a crowd around us, because we always got into it and many people thought it was entertaining. I saw that Dom, Freddy and Louis, more of the Weasley family, were here too, watching us next to James. Louis hung out with our group, so he was pretty used Albus and I arguing. He knew well enough not to get involved though, because unlike Rose and Scorp (who for some reason enjoy getting involved in our arguments) Louis knows that if Albus and I are going at it, we don't like to be disrupted.

…I just realized what that sounded like. And I most certainly did not mean it like that.

Louis had an amused expression on his face, while Freddy was making a bet with James as to who would win this one.

"Yeah, I'm actually surprised you haven't fathered a child yet," I said. "You womanize so many girls that I would think that you have at least three kids." He isn't actually a womanizer, but he has had his fair share of hook ups. He, Louis and Scorpius are some of the guys who are swooned over by all the girls and, well, they do take advantage of that. Combined they've hooked up with nearly all the girls in our year. "Especially since if you had a child, you wouldn't know if the girl actually liked you or if she wanted to be a part of the 'Famous Potter' family. But on the bright side, you would've done the one thing you did that your father never did. You would finally be your own person, instead of having to live in his shadow, trying to fill his shoes. Which you never will be able to fill by the way. People will always look at you as 'Albus Potter, Harry Potter's son who isn't as good as him'."

From the look on his face, I could tell I had hit him right where it counts. That he will always be in his father's shadow and people will always expect him to be as good as his dad. I couldn't help but smirk the Malfoy smirk. There was no way he could top that.

"Well I would rather be living in someone's shadow then not even knowing where my mother is," Albus said, smirking himself. "Then having to live off of my uncle and my aunt who got dumped with me because my mother didn't want me. Because my mother didn't even love me enough to stay."

I felt like I had been slapped. But he didn't stop. He kept going.

"Where my mother is too much of a slag to even know who my father is, or where he is, or even care. She was born as a bastard so why not have her child that way?" He said, smirking more and more as he could see me grow weaker and weaker. I look and saw that Rose and Scorpius had stopped being awkward towards each other and were gaping at Albus. In fact everyone was looking at Albus in shock. The amused expression that was on Louis's face had vanished, replaced with one of shock and anger and confusion as to what he was talking about. Scorpius looked like a part of him wanted to murder Albus, but that he knew it was his best friend and his cousin and that we always fought. But it had never gone this far before. "Why not just have a kid and dump them on her rich brother and his wife so that she don't need to do any of the work. So that she can go on pretending she doesn't have a child and continue slagging around while her child turns into total bitch who will never know what it is to be loved by parents?" Albus seemed to have finished because he said, "I would much rather live in someone's shadow then live life with a mother who doesn't care."

By the end, I was looking at the ground, just hoping he would stop. I was forcing myself not to cry. I never cried when Albus and I fought and I wasn't going to let him see me cry now. But I decided that he had gone too far and I didn't care if he saw me cry. So when he finished, I finally looked up at him, showing him my face, and how there were probably tears streaming down it. Once he saw my face, his triumphant smirk was whipped off his face and replaced with something else. And by the look in his eyes, I could tell he knew he crossed a line that was never supposed to be crossed.

"You bastard," I whisper to him. I turn away from him, showing him that he had won the fight, and ran into the house into Rose's bathroom.

Which is where I burst into sobs, tears flowing out of my eyes, ruining my make up, and just overall being the photo of a person who hadn't cried in too long of a time.

* * *

My mum was a love child of one of Lucius's affairs. She was born a little after Draco was by one of the housemaids that Lucius and Narcissa employed. She didn't look anything like the maid, though, she looked like a Malfoy. So Lucius and Narcissa decided to bring her in and raise her as their own daughter, but keeping her a secret. She didn't go to Hogwarts, she went to Beauxbatons in France. But because her and Draco were close, they always wrote one another.

I hadn't seen my her in 11 years. We had been staying with Draco and Astoria for a while at that point and one day I woke up and Draco sat me down and told me she was gone. Ever since then, I had lived with Draco, Astoria and Scorpius and they became my family. Draco and Astoria have practically been my parents and Scorpius had been my brother.

"Addie!" Rose yelled through the locked door. "Come on Ads let me in!"

"No!" I yelled back. "Besides Scorpius is probably out there and he'll probably try to come in too!"

There was silence from the other side of the door. Which just proved I was right.

"No he's not out here!" Rose yelled. But her voice was high pitched, which always happens when she is lying. "You don't even have to let me in, just open the door a crack so I can see if I need to go kill my cousin or not!"

I looked at myself in the mirror and saw that my makeup was smeared all over my face, my hair was a mess on account of me pulling it because of how stressed I was (a weird habit I know, I have tried to stop but I can't for some reason, pulling on my hair is a great way to relieve stress), and I just looked terrible. If I were Rose and I saw me, I would kill Albus. (No this has nothing to do with the fact that I hate him, if I saw Rose like this because of Scorpius I would, well, not kill Scorpius, but hurt him. Badly.)

So I opened the door just a crack and then I heard, "GO!" and see Scorpius push the door all the way open, Rose ran in, followed by Scorpius who then shut the door and locked it again. During this whole thing, I was shoved up against the sink (uncomfortably might I add) freaking out on the inside because Scorpius and Rose helped each other WITHOUT BEING AWKWARD BECAUSE THEY ARE TOTALLY IN LOVE!

They are so perfect for each other.

"Oh honey," Rose said after looking at me. She tore off a piece of toilet paper to dab my eyes with. "I'm sorry. Albus can be a git sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" I asked, laughing.

"Addie you don't know Albus like we do," Scorpius said. I was sitting on the sink counter so he came over and put his arm around me. I lean my head against his shoulder. "He's a good guy. And if it makes you feel better, Louis and James are pretty pissed at him, so I would expect to see him with a black eye or bruises. You know how the Potter/Weasley Family temper is." As he said this, he looked over at Rose with the Malfoy smirk because Rose has quite a temper herself. She hit him. They're so cute. And what he said did make me feel better, I hoped Albus was in a wheelchair with all the bones in his body were broken.

"Scorpius, you heard what he said." I said, as Rose finished cleaning my face off and pulled out her wand to do fix my hair. Even though she's only 16, because she lives in a house full of other witches and wizards, the Ministry can't tell if she is the one actually using magic or if it someone else. "It's hard to believe that. No one but you two know about it, not even Louis knows about it. How did he even know that much about Mum?" I looked accusingly at Rose and Scorpius. "Did you tell him?"

"I've never told him anything," Rose said. "And I'm pretty sure Scorpius didn't either."

"Well…" Scorpius said. I pulled my head off of his shoulder and looked at him accusingly. How could he? I mean that stuff is personal! The only reason that he knows about it is because he was there and Rose knows because she is my best friend and I tell her everything! "I told him a little bit. Just that your mom left when you were five and that you've lived with us ever since then. But I didn't tell him…everything."

"See so while Scorpius told him some stuff, he didn't tell him everything," Rose said. This was comforting because if Albus knew the entire story about Mom…well that would just be bad. "Besides most people know all of that already. No one knows everything. Just me and Scorpius." She put her wand away and came onto my other side and put an arm around me. "And we aren't going to tell anyone. Are we, Scorp?" She looked at him and I could see how they both had a slight blush on their faces just by looking at each other.

It should be illegal to be this adorable.

"Of course we are," Scorpius said. "Now how about a group hug?" I wasn't sure if he was doing it because he thought it would help me or if he just wanted to hug Rose.

But either way, him and Rose both hugged me tight and at that moment, it didn't matter why they were hugging. Just that my two best friends were hugging me and I was feeling so much better.

"Thanks guys," I said. " I love you guys so much."

"We love you too," Rose said pulling away from the hug. "And if you will excuse me, I have a cousin who needs a good talking too. Because no matter what Louis and James do to him, I still get to yell at him or hurt him."

Rose gave me a pat on the head and walked out of the room. Scorpius watched her leave, and I saw the look on his face.

"You know, for not wanting me to know who you liked, you did a horrible job of it." I said to Scorpius. "But I'm happy that you like Rose, because she isn't your normal taste in girls."

"Well she isn't like any other girl I met," Scorpius said. "So now that you know I suppose that you'll tell me to stay away from her?"

"Actually, no," I said. "I think you guys would be great together. But if you hurt her, then I would have to kill you. If I didn't then it would go against the Best Friend Code."

"Yeah well its not like she would ever go out with me," Scorpius said, looking a little defeated. "She's…Rose Weasley, smart, beautiful, nice, pretty much the perfect girl. And then there's me, the son of a Death Eater, and rival of her father." He snorts. "Yeah we'd be a great match together."

I looked at him in shock. He could not actually believe that Rose would never like him because her father didn't like him. I came around and hugged him around the middle and looked up at him.

"Scorpius," I said. "Don't think that just because Draco and her dad hated each other that that will influence her in anyway. Rose is a big girl. She makes up her own decisions. And trust me, she already knows how to because..." I really debated on whether to tell him or not. Because as a best friend, I shouldn't tell but as Scorpius's cousin/sister, I should. But I eventually decide to tell him because, honestly what is the worst that could happen? He goes and asks her out and they fall in love and get married? Yeah, I think Rose would be happy if I told him. "She likes you Scorp."

Here's the weird thing. He doesn't jump up and down. He doesn't freak out. He doesn't do a happy dance.

He doesn't do ANYTHING.

I mean what is wrong with him?! I just told him the girl he likes, likes him too! I think that calls for a celebration of SOME kind.

"Oh," Scorpius said.

Oh? Oh?! OH?! THATS ALL HE CAN SAY?! WITH ABSOLUTLY NO EMOTION?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM?

"Gee Scorpius, I think your a little too excited," I said, as I pulled my arms back. Because he doesn't deserve a hug. If this is all the excitement he is going to give for finding out that a girl he seems crazy about, liking him back, then he doesn't deserve a hug. "You may want to calm down before you have a heart attack. Why aren't you excited?"

"Because now there is no way I can ask her out," Scorpius said, moving from the sink to the wall opposite of it.

What he said really confused me because...well there is just so much wrong with the sentence.

"I'm sorry but when you find out that a girl that you like, likes you back," I said because this isn't making any sense. "Wouldn't that be a reason to ask her out without fear of rejection?"

"Addie," Scorpius said, seeming amazed that I don't understand. Well Scorpius, I'm sorry that I don't have a weird brain that makes no sense like you do. My brain makes sense.

...most of the time.

"Addie, I can't ask her out now," Scorpius said. But before I could ask why he goes, "But why?" (in a very bad imitation of my voice might I add. My voice isn't nearly as nasally as he made it sound.) "Because now that I know she likes me, I know she will say yes, and then I know that I will eventually hurt her and that her family would hate me more then they already do, and then I will be hurt because she will pick them over me, and then you'll come in and not pick any side but in actuality be picking hers because she is your best friend and I would never see you again and I would never be able to live with the guilt that I broke the heart of the one girl that I could actually love."

At the end, his voice got more and more miserable and he slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground. And I looked at him, slumped up against the wall, looking at the ground and I didn't see my big, overprotective cousin/brother who seemed fearless about anything, but the sad, little 5-year-old boy who just put his arm around me and cried with me as I cried because my mother wasn't coming back. I hadn't seen that boy for about the same amount of time that I hadn't seen Mum.

"Scorpius," I said and sat down next to him. "You don't honestly believe that the only way it would end is if you were both hurt, do you?"

"It is the only reason that makes sense. Look at who my father is, I am not going to have a happy ending. Especially not with Rose Weasley," Scorpius said. He sounded so sad so I pulled his head onto my shoulder, put my head on top of his and rubbed his back. (Not in a gross way in a comforting way, the guy is my COUSIN for Merlin's sake).

"Well I don't believe that," I said. "I think that you and Rose...you guys could be an epic love story." When I said it, I realized that it was true. They really had the background to be that. "You're not Draco, you already proved that by being sorted into Gryffindor. You are your own person Scorpius and no one, not even yourself, should think that just because your father didn't make the best choices, means that you don't deserve a happy ending." I kissed him on the forehead. "And even if you don't get a happy ending, I will be there with you. Because you are more of my brother then my cousin, and I will always be there for you."

Scorpius moved around so that now it was me with my head on his shoulder, and his head on mine. He pulled me into a really tight hug. "Malfoys until the end?" he asked me.

I squeezed him tighter, smiling at our inside joke we made when we were younger and said, "Malfoys until the end. I love you Scorp."

"Love you too, Ads."

* * *

A/N: AWWWW. I love Addie's and Scorpius's relationship. They're so cute 3

So what did you think? Do you hate Albus? Do you love Scorpius/Rose? Favorite Part?

Please review! My review box is curretnly very hungry and needs to be feed.

:)


	3. The Madness of Going Back To Hogwarts

After our little bathroom party, Scorpius and I headed back out to the party. He seemed a little bit happier than in the bathroom but I didn't see him for the rest of the party, so I assumed he was with Albus. I hung out with Rose.

And since I was avoiding Albus (I didn't want to face him. No, I was not being a coward. I just didn't want to look at his git-face. There is nothing wrong with that) and Scorpius was avoiding Rose (or so I assumed, because one time he was getting butterbeer and she was getting butterbeer and when he saw her, he practically ran away from her. Unfortunately Rose noticed, but I just told her that he probably saw a spider and that it had nothing to do with her. But then she went on about how she didn't care if it had anything to do with her because she DID NOT like him in that way, but we shared a look that said we both knew she was lying. So I changed the topic before I would have to comfort ANOTHER person. It's a party. Where everyone lets loose. Not where people are upset over the people they like.) So anyway, I never saw Scorpius until we were leaving and even then he still seemed upset but he was a little giggly. Something made me suspect the firewhiskey that James and Freddy managed to steal had something to do with it.

The next two weeks went by rather slowly. Scorpius and I seemed to have a non-spoken agreement to not have Albus or Rose over for the sake of the other one. I got letters from Rose and I went over there a few times but Rose would always ask me about Scorpius and then talked about why he seemed to be avoiding her. (All this coming from the girl who can't even admit she likes him. I swear this girl will never admit it, even if they are getting married or having sex or ANYTHING. She's such a stubborn little bugger.)

I didn't like seeing Rose miserable and I didn't like seeing Scorpius miserable, so I decided that I'm going to do something about it.

I decided that this year, our sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I would get Scorpius and Rose to go out. Or admit they like each other and then go out. I honestly am not picky as to which one, just one of those.

I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to do this, but I was going to.

When there is a will there is a way. And I have a will. A large will, to see both my best friends happy with each other. So they will.

No matter who gets in my way.

I will take out any slags that try and lure Scorpius in with sex and stuff and I will take care of any boy who asks Rose on a date.

That is, if Rose doesn't kill the slags, and Scorpius doesn't kill the boys.

This should be an interesting year.

* * *

Finally, the day to return to Hogwarts came. Scorpius and I had already gone to Diagon Ally and gotten everything we needed. Since we were going alone, we made sure to find out the times Albus and Rose were going and go at a different time. Of course there was always the chance of running into them, but we managed not to. I was proud of us. We got everything and didn't blow the money on stuff we didn't need. Other then that, we didn't do much. We trained for Quidditch together (we were both Chasers) and hung around the Manor.

I love Scorp, but when the day of going back to Hogwarts came and the thought of not having to spend every minute with him (because all of a sudden Albus and Rose were always at each others' houses, so we were avoiding out two best friends. We couldn't even see Louis because he was with them) I was more then excited.

"Come on we're going to be late!" I yelled as my wonderful Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin were lagging behind me.

"Addison," Astoria said to me. I decided to stop walking and wait for them. "Addison, slow down. It's only 10:50. And we're already at the barrier."

I looked and saw that we were, in fact, standing right in front of the brick wall that separated Platform 9 and Platform 10. In my excitement to get to Hogwarts, I totally was going to miss the barrier. I'm so dumb sometimes.

"Alright, Draco go with Scorpius," Astoria said.

They walked calmly to the wall, Scorpius acting like he was trying to find a platform, when they suddenly disappeared through the wall. None of the Muggles noticed, all too busy in their own business. I was about to start walking toward the wall myself when Astoria's hand held my arm back. I turned to look at her and saw that she had that look on her face. The Addison-We-Need-To-Talk-But-You're-Not-In-Trouble look on her face.

"Addison what happened at the Weasley's party?" she asked. She wasn't angry, I could tell that much, just curious. I was about to say that nothing happened when she said, "And don't say nothing because ever since then you haven't been going over there anymore, especially when they are having the Potter's and the other Weasley's over, which is normally when you and Scorpius are begging to go over there."

"Well," I said. I didn't know if I should tell her the full truth or just a general overview. "Albus and I got –"

"Into an argument and he brought up your mother and you ran into Rose's bathroom crying, while Louis and James proceeded to beat up Albus and then Rose came and yelled at Albus," She said.

I was very confused as to how she knew all this. Was she a seer? Merlin, she must be! That must be how she knew! I HAVE AN AUNT WHO IS A SEER! THIS IS AWESOME! I SHOULD ASK HER WHAT MY GRADES WILL-

"Before you start thinking something ridiculous like that I'm a seer," Astoria said. Well, okay then guess that's out. "Hermione told me at work. She heard it from all the kids."

"That family never can keep a secret," I said, smiling. I love them.

"No they can't," Astoria said, checking her watch and seeing that it was only 10:53. "But why couldn't you tell me? You normally tell me more then enough when it concerns Albus."

This is true. Normally when I argue with Albus, I tend to still be pissed off when I get home and then Astoria asks me what's wrong and then I spill everything out. So Astoria knows about all our arguments and comments, but I could tell that she thought that me not telling her signified something.

"I don't know why I didn't tell you," I said. "It just went farther then usual and I didn't feel like sharing. He was being a bigger git then normal and I just didn't want to relive what he said to me."

"Oh Addie," she said, hugging me. She only calls me Addie occasionally, normally when I'm upset over a boy or Scorpius being stupid. It was her way of comforting me. "Albus is a boy. And boys, well they take things too far. Draco said the meanest things to me when I first met him, but inside I found the wonderful man he is now." As she talked about Draco, she was smiling at the memory. "Boys don't know how to talk to girls, especially girls they fancy. And especially when the girl fancies them back." Wait, WHAT? "Albus is just being a boy, and it's normal. Look at how Scorpius talks to Rose. He can barely say anything to her." She looked down at her watch again. "Oh, it's 10:55, we should probably get onto the platform."

As she led me to the platform, all I could think about was what she said. She thinks Albus likes me?! That's just, just…hysterical! I can totally picture him being all "I totally like Addie, I'm going to seduce her by insulting her mum and reminding her no one loves her. I think that's a great plan". Albus does not like me. Astoria is wrong. Also how could she think I like him?! He and I argue all the time, I hate him! I honestly don't know why I thought Astoria was a seer.

I hate him, and he hates me.

That's it, nothing else, zero, zilch, nada. Anyway you can say "nothing" or "zero" or anything else that is synonymous to that, that is what Albus and I are.

"Hey, what took you girls so long?" Draco asked. Well Draco, your wife was making silly comments about Albus and I fancying each other.

"Oh, just some girl talk," Astoria said. "Now do you two have everything?"

"Yeah," Scorpius and I responded in unison.

"Alright and you will write us?" She asked again. She never liked goodbyes. She missed us a lot. Then again when you have a wonderful person like me, it is understandable to miss me.

"Yeah, Mum," Scorpius said, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek and hug her. "I love you, see you over Christmas break."

So we said our goodbyes, and Astoria only teared up a little bit and then Scorpius and I got onto the train.

"So what was the girl talk about?" Scorpius asked once we were on the train and trying to find a compartment.

"Well, your mother is under the impression that Albus and I fancy each other," I said, while looking into the window of a compartment to see if it had anyone in it. "Which is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."

"Well, it's understandable where she is coming from," Scorp said.

"What? How is it understandable?" I said, wondering what was wrong with my family. "If arguing all the time and not being able to not throw insults at each other is love, then Albus and I are deeply in it."

"That's not what I meant," Scorpius said. "It's just that you two do spend a lot of time and energy on each other, whether it be arguing or insulting or throwing death glares at each other, that it seems like you guys could."

"That makes no sense," I said, stopping and turning towards him, even though we were in the middle of the hallway. "If a boy and a girl liked each other, then they would be trying to make the other one like them, not insulting them all the time and reminding them no one loves them. Only very stupid people would do that and I am not stupid. Albus, maybe, but even he is not that stupid. There is no fancying going on and no matter what, there never will be."

"Never will be any what?" I heard a voice from behind me say. I turned and saw the wonderfully gorgeous face of Louis Weasley. I hadn't seen him all summer because I was been avoiding Albus and he is one of Albus' best friends, which means I rarely get to see him. Even though he's one of my best friends too.

"Louis!" I said, and jumped on him forcing him into a hug. There are joys of being short because then when you hug someone, they can pick you up in the hug. So that's how the hug between me and Louis was, him holding me and me, with my arms and legs wrapped around him like if I let go, I would die. I was getting death glares from many girls because Louis is AMAZINGLY hot. Hottest boy in the 6th year, easily. And he was hugging ME. Ha, bitches that's what you get for him not being your best friend, but mine.

"Hey Ads!" Louis said, as he set me down. Scorpius had that look on his face where he knows that by The Law of Family, you kill any bloke who would touch your female family members, and that by The Law of Mates, the bloke never goes near family, so Louis would never like/love/seduce me (sadly). So he was torn between killing him and not.

Silly over-protective boy.

"I got a compartment down a little ways for us," Louis said, taking my trunk. (Did I mention he was chivalrous too? Because he is. He so is. He's the perfect boy. If I had to pick anyone in the Potter/Weasley family to marry, it would be between him and James. But he would probably win because then we could have wonderful veela children.) "I haven't seen you guy around lately. Parties were definitely more dull without you guys."

"Yeah, we got caught up in some…stuff," Scorpius said. Stuff sounded better then what we were actually doing, sitting in the Manor, bored out of our minds because we didn't want to see his cousins.

"Well that stuff better have been worth not coming," Louis said, as he slid open the door to the compartment.

"Oh it was," I said, walking in and noticing there were two people already in there.

The very two people who were the reasons why Scorpius and I were doing stuff and couldn't come over.

"Addie!" Rose said when I sat down next to her, avoiding the gaze of the boy who sat across from her. "I can't believe you and Scorpius never came over after the party. Why?"

"They had stuff to do," Louis said, sitting down beside me.

"Oh, well that sucks. We missed you!" Rose said. "Hi Scorpius. How was the rest of your summer?"

Oh, just by looking at her face you can tell how much she likes him. Someone would have to be a complete idiot not to notice.

"Um..it was...it was good," Scorpius managed to stammer out. Just looking at HIM you can tell how much he likes her. He's looking at her all shyly and Scorpius is NEVER shy, so he really really likes her. (And through this whole thing I thought about how my cousin was such an idiot that he wouldn't ask her out. This is why I have to take matters into my own hands).

They just sat there looking at each other shyly for a little while and I sat there looking like a creeper for looking at them and the git across from me kept staring me down.

"Well..." Louis said. Apparently, this was very awkward for him.

"Um, Scorpius and I should go to the prefect meeting," Rose said, blushing because she knew that she was caught. She and Scorpius were chosen as the Gryffindor prefects last year. I knew Rose would get it. I was shocked when Scorp got it though because I just assumed that Albus would get it because of his dad. But it's good to see McGonagall doesn't base her choices on who people's fathers were. But on how awesome they are.

And let's face it, Albus sucks.

"Yeah would hate for you two to miss it," Louis said. "You being good students and, what did that letter say last year, Rosie? Oh, yeah 'an example among your peers'." Louis laughed. Maybe Scorpius shouldn't have been a prefect if that's what they were supposed to do. He can't even talk to a girl he likes, how could he be an example?

"Oh, shut it Louis!" Rose said. But she was smiling as well. "You're just jealous because YOU didn't get chosen as a prefect-"

"Like I would've taken the job!" Louis said back. He was one of the more laid back Weasley's. Not a stick-in-the-mud like his Uncle Percy but not a giant prankster like his uncles George and Fred (RIP You Wonderful Jokester). A nice medium. "That sounds like a lame job to have. Am I right Albus?"

Everyone looked at the boy sitting across from me. Well, actually, everyone but me did. Because he was staring me down. I could feel his stare blazing into me and I wasn't going to look at him. On principal. No matter how awkward or creeped out I was. (I was very awkward and very creeped out, by the way).

So I settled for examining my hair. And I have a lot of spilt ends. I should get that fixed somehow. There must be a spell somewhere that I could use to solve my spilt end problems and then I will have perfect-

"Addie, can I talk to you?" I heard Albus say. I was still examining my hair.

"Sure, go ahead," I said, without looking at him.

"I meant in private," He said. At that, I stopped obsessing over my split ends (although I need to get them fixed) and looked at him. And everyone else staring at us. I looked over at Scorp and from the look on his face I knew that if I said I didn't want to go, then he would support me. And not going sounded good to me. I'd rather not be insulted again.

But then I locked eyes with Albus.

His eyes were pleading with me, asking me to come with him. He wanted me to know what he said was going to be important. And for some reason, I couldn't force myself to look away. And before I even registered what I was saying, the words, "Yeah, sure" were out of my mouth.

Albus got up and so did I. So did Rose and Scorpius because Rose made a comment about how they were going to be late if they didn't go then. They still were both blushing and weren't really looking at each other but I saw them steal glances at one another. (Have I mentioned how adorable they are?)

As the four of us left the compartment, (despite Louis whining about how he had to sit alone because we were all leaving and what horrible friends we were for leaving him alone with no one to talk to) I looked over at Albus to see him open a door a few compartment's down from where Louis sat whining, going inside and then two seventh years coming out. They were a boy and girl and her hair was messed up and his shirt was untucked and his belt was undone.

"Addie, down here," Albus said to me. The couple looked over at me while I headed over to the compartment and gave each other a look. The guy saw Albus and I and winked at us with a smirk on his face.

Oh Merlin. They think we're hooking up.

What is with people today?! First Astoria, saying that Albus and I like each other and then these two random people thinking we're going into the compartment to do...stuff that I don't even want to think about doing with Albus.

Even though he is hot. But that is beside the point.

When we both in the compartment with the door closed, we both stood there awkwardly. You could feel the awkwardness in the air, it was so bad.

"So," I said after a few seconds. I couldn't stand standing there any longer. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah," Albus said. He looked nervous. "Well it's about what happened at the party-"

"Oh, you mean when you were a complete arse and reminded me my mum left and no one loves me?" I said. I couldn't help interrupting him but hearing him starting to talk about the party, I couldn't help but become pissed off.

"Yeah, about that-" Albus started again, but I interrupted him again. (I like interrupting)

"Did you get satisfaction in seeing me cry?" I took a step towards him, like I always do in fights with him. "Did you enjoy knowing that you broke me? That you finally hit the spot that counted?"

"No, Addie-"

"That for once you actually beat me in a fight? That you made me run away from you, sobbing-"

"God dammit Malfoy! Stop interrupting me!" Albus said. He actually raised his voice a little for this, which we never do. "I didn't say it to make you cry, or hurt you badly. I said it because I was angry and when people are angry they say stupid things. I didn't think it would effect you that badly, so I said it!"

I was in shock but that didn't stop me from saying, "Well, you knew it would have some effect on me-"

"Of course I knew that," Albus said. "But I didn't think it would be so bad. I've already had to hear from everyone what a jerk I am for saying that! James and Louis took turns beating me up before Rose took them off, and then Rose yelled at me, and then Scorpius told me off, and then my mum and my dad too! My whole bloody family told me off for that and I already feel so fucking bad about saying it and I don't need you fucking guilt tripping me too when I'm trying to fucking apologize!"

Like at the party, we were standing so close to each other that I could really look into his eyes. And this time, not only did I see the beautiful color but also I could tell he meant it. He wanted to apologize.

And that was the weirdest part about all of this.

"Oh," I said, much calmer and quieter then before, while his green eyes were locked to my blue ones. "Well I'm sorry for accusing you then."

"Don't be," he said, his voice matching mine. "You have a right to be angry at me. I'm an idiot. I shouldn't have said that."

I would have been fine with this because these last few seconds were the most civil that we've ever been towards each other, but he took it one step further.

"I'm sorry Addie."

* * *

A/N: This isn't very good. Sorry about it.

You guys can talk to me, you know that right? I won't do anything. So please please please review. Come on, I'm practically begging here.

Hope you enjoyed! :)


	4. The Madness Where Scorp Nearly Kills Me

Albus and I stood in the compartment staring at each other. I think we both couldn't believe that he just apologized.

"How do I know you're not just saying this because your mum or dad or James or whoever is forcing you too?" I asked.

Albus sighed. "I figured you were going to ask me that," He smiled at me. The weird thing? His smile…it made me smile back. It wasn't one of his cocky smiles or his signature jerk-smirk (a name I made up myself) but it was a real smile. And it made him look happy and when he looked happy he looked more attractive.

…Did I just say that?

"Addie," Albus said. "If I was forced to apologize to you do you think I would do it?"

His smile was still there and I couldn't help but notice that it lit up his whole face. It wasn't a full on smile; more like a laid back smile. This boy has some good genes.

…Again did I just say that?! Sure, I've said he was hot but I have never felt so… attracted to him. Like I am really, really attracted to him right now. I don't think I've ever been this attracted to anyone. This could be a problem.

"Well I guess that's true," I said back. "You probably would've just said it but still be rather mean about it."

Albus laughed at this. A small laugh but a laugh nonetheless. I couldn't help but notice that this was the first time we've ever been smiling at each other, talking to each other, and not insulting each other. (Also the first time I've been this attracted to him but that is beside the point).

This was a first for us.

"Yeah, probably," he said. "Addie, I am so, so sorry about what I said."

I looked into his eyes again, which were brilliantly emerald green, and the messy black hair and the smile and just everything. I see why tons of girls fall for him and why I'm so attracted to him right now. And, who knows, maybe if we hadn't fought all the time, I could've fallen for him.

Wait, what is wrong with me?! This entire time I keep finding him more and more attractive and thinking about how I could've fallen for him. It's Astoria's fault. Her and her stupid idea that we like each other.

"I know you are," I said, ignoring my brain talking about how hot Albus was and how stupid Astoria was. "Maybe we could make an effort this year to not fight? Because I know Rose and Scorpius hate it and I'm sure it makes them feel awkward and I feel like it would be easier on everyone if we just tried to make an effort. At least while they're around. And who knows maybe we'll become…friends." Even though that seemed very unlikely.

"That sounds like a good idea. But friends?" Albus said. "That might be a little difficult."

"Maybe we should look at this as a challenge," I said. "Whoever starts a fight first, loses. And they'd have to…" I looked at Albus for help because I couldn't think of anything.

"Um," Albus said thinking. "They'd have to...have to…ugh...Have Veritaserum and tell the school who they like?" He phrased it as a question like he wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not. But it was. It so was.

Because if Albus lost, he would have to suck up his pride and humiliate himself. It would be awesome. And hilarious. And if I lost…well the boy wouldn't even bother saying if he liked me back because Scorpius would beat them up! Besides I embarrass myself all the time so saying that wouldn't be a big deal. This was an awesome idea!

I'm a sad person that this gives me so much joy.

"Yes!" I said. "Albus, that's a great idea!" And then, for some strange reason, I hugged him. Maybe it was my hormones taking over because they couldn't stand how attractive he was or something. But once I realized what I did, I was about to let go and pull my arms back but I felt his arms come around my waist and (maybe I was imagining this) pulled me closer to him.

"I'm glad you think so," he said and I felt him rest his chin on my head.

I was about to let go, when all of a sudden the train lurched and we fell onto the seats. (Keep in mind that we are STILL hugging, so we fell while hugging) I landed on top of him, my arms still around his neck, and he laid below me, arms still around my waist (again, maybe this was my imagination, but he seemed to be holding me rather tight like he didn't want to let go. Maybe his hormones were being weird too). My face landed on his chest, and I couldn't help but notice that he smelled really nice. Not like some sort of aftershave or cologne, but he smelled like…something that smelled really. really good. Like a fresh grass smell…and pine trees…and maple syrup…

I decided that maybe I should stop smelling him because he might get a little creeped out and looked up. Which is when I noticed how close our faces were. They were very, very, very close. I could feel his breath on my face and I'm sure he could feel mine on his (thank Merlin I brushed my teeth this morning, so my breath smelled all minty fresh as opposed to smelling like morning breath) and again realized how close we were. (And okay maybe I realized how hot he was too).

A strand of hair fell in my face and I was about to remove an arm from Albus' neck and get up so I could move it, but of course my arms were stuck and I couldn't move. But before I could even process it, Albus removed one hand from my waist and pushed it behind my ear. And then, his hand didn't really move from my hair. His hand started playing with my curls and again, I noticed how close we were. At this point, when two teenagers are lying on the seat, in each other's arms, the boy playing with the girl's hair, I think most of them are making out. Which is what made this entire thing so weird. Because Albus and I wouldn't do that. Not in a million years or when my life depended on it.

Okay so maybe if my life depended on it I would. I don't want to die.

"Your hair is really soft," Albus said quietly, almost as if he couldn't believe that I had soft hair. Or that he never noticed it before.

And of course, as life would have it, while we were there, in that position, Albus playing with my hair, the door to the compartment opened and I heard a male voice say, "Right in here, oh, wait someone's in here. Sorry for disturbing-ADDIE?!"

Of course James had to walk in right then. At least it wasn't Scorpius.

"ADDISON MALFOY, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING YOUNG LADY?" James yelled, as he walked in. "I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL WHO EVER THIS IS-" He pulled Albus' hands off of my waist and pulled me off of him. "DO YOU HEAR THAT YOU BASTARD? YOU'RE GONNA – ALBUS?!"

James looked from me to Albus and then back at me.

"Um, James?" We heard and we all looked at the door, where a petite seventh year Hufflepuff stood.

"Not now," James said sternly (and rather scarily too). "I need to deal with these two, Mary."

"It's Margie-"

"NOT NOW MARY!"

Poor Margie. She walked away looking rather afraid, (I'm sorry SHE'S afraid?! I'm probably going to be killed for doing…NOTHING.)

James went over and slammed the door with a great amount of force.

I am frightened for my life.

* * *

So it turns out that the compartment that Albus and I were in was the hook up compartment. It was where seventh years went so they could hook up.

I was appalled that they had such a thing.

I was also angry with Albus for taking us to that compartment but he said he didn't know. Normally I would've started a fight with him for being so stupid but I don't want to lose the bet with in an hour of making it.

James yelled at me, saying that as a girl, I can't go around, into compartments with boys, and start making out. It makes me look like a whore. And I am not a whore. If I turn into a whore like Dominique, he will kill me and then have Scorpius come and kill me again. I am not becoming a whore no matter how badly I want to because he won't let me. (Not that I wanted to become a whore anyway).

James told Albus to use protection.

I was pissed. I get told off for not doing anything and that if I start whoring around, then he'll kill me but he just tells Albus to just use protection?! It's unfair! And sexist! I was almost so pissed at that, that I almost forgot that James thought we were hooking up.

I set him straight. I won't go into detail. But lots of yelling was involved. He was convinced we weren't hooking up. Or so I thought until he walked with us back to the compartment where Louis was, Rose and Scorpius had rejoined him, along with my other roommate Alice Longbottom. She was Professor Longbottom's daughter, but apparently she was nothing like he was in school. Well at the beginning of school. Rose's parents said he was a badass by the end of school, especially during the Battle at Hogwarts. Yeah, Alice is pretty badass, I guess. When I want to do badassy things (because I myself am quite the badass of course) she's my girl. She sneaks into Hogsmeade regularly, pulls pranks all the time and stands up to all the teachers. We're not super close but she's awesome for that stuff. She is actually really quiet. Doesn't have many friends. She's a quiet badass.

Anyway...

So the three of us (me, James and Albus) walked into the compartment and Albus and I sat down, me next to Louis and Albus next to me. (Scorpius and Rose were sitting next to each other! And they were kinda talking with only minimal blushing! YAY!).

"Hey James," Louis said. "Why did you have to chaperone these two back here?"

"Well actually there's an interesting story behind that," James said. Oh shit. He wouldn't. We didn't do anything. I convinced him of that. Didn't I? "I walked into a compartment and found them in a..." James thought for the right word. "Compromising position."

So you know how Scorpius and Rose were kinda talking to each other? Well once James said we were in a compromising position they stopped giving each other longing looks and snapped their heads up to look at James. Scorpius looked about the fact that I was in a compromising position with a boy.

"What?" Scorpius said in his deep, overprotective voice. I'm pretty sure Albus shrunk away a little. "What do you mean a compromising position?"

"Well," James said. I was trying to decide if I should try and slip out of the compartment, attack James, or just stay still. I saw that in Albus' pocket, he had his dad's invisibility cloak. "I walked into the compartment and they were lying on the seat, arms around each other, going at it."

Okay, so if I put the invisibility cloak on then I won't have to deal with this until later. However, that means I have to reach into Albus' pocket. Oh well. It's just his pocket.

"Damn!" Louis said. "So who was on top?" See, while Lou is chivalrous and wonderful, he has a very sick sense of humor and disgusting mind.

I think Albus noticed my hand in his pocket because he tensed up and looked at me. I just mouthed, "Cloak" and nodded to the door. He seemed to understand. So he let me continue to put my hand in his pocket to reach for the cloak. I must say, I've never had a civilized conversation with him until today and I've made more physical contact with him then any of my boyfriends. (Actually just that one who transferred after Scorpius punched him. I don't blame boys. I wouldn't want to deal with Scorpius either).

"Lou!" Rose said. "That's disgusting!"

I managed to get a good grip on the cloak and started sliding my wrist out.

"It's not disgusting!" Louis said. "Alice, do you think it's disgusting? Its just curiosity to see who's the dominant one in their relationship!"

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. My bracelet is stuck on something hard inside Albus' pocket. The one day I decide to wear this stupid bracelet it gets stuck in some boy's pants.

Ironically, Scorpius gave me this bracelet.

"Well it is disgusting," Alice said. "But then again, you are curious so no harm in asking right?"

I tried tugging and pulling on my wrist but it's hard to not draw attention to the fact that you're hand is in some boy's pants. Albus must have noticed because his hand came and grabbed mine and started trying to pry my wrist free of his pocket. Keep in mind that we are trying to do this without drawing attention to ourselves. Almost everyone was looking at Alice and Louis, who were going back and forth about something about curiosity and dominance or something. Scorpius was just looking at the ground with a very pissed off look on his face.

And of course, while Scorpius has a very pissed off look on his face, he has to look up and see my hand in Albus' pocket and Albus' hand in his pocket.

"What," Scorpius said, in a low, scary voice. "The. Fuck. Is. Going. ON?!" Scorpius got louder and louder with each word and on the last word stood up. He was just staring down at my hand in Albus' pocket. (Albus removed his hand. Arse.) "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK AL?!" HA! Albus is getting in trouble this time! "AND WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING ADDIE?!" What?! No! Go back to blaming Albus! "GET YOUR HAND OUT OF HIS FUCKING PANTS."

Now everyone of the compartment was definitely looking at us, if they weren't before. Lou made some sick joke, Rose sat there in shock while looking at Scorpius and Alice was very calm, just looking out the window. And James...well...

"ADDISON, LISTEN TO YOUR BROTHER RIGHT NOW."

Yeah. That's James.

"Well, I can't," I said. "My hand is stuck."

Louis and Alice burst out laughing. I'm glad they found amusement in the fact that Scorpius's eyes turned into demon eyes and he started huffing. When Scorpius gets really, really, really, mad and overprotective, he turns into the incredible Hulk.

"That better be a bloody joke Addie," Scorpius said between huffs.

I wish it were a joke. Because then I would be allowed to live.

"Scorp, it's not a joke," Albus said. "Her hand is really stuck in my pocket."

James was sitting down talking to himself about how he was supposed to watch over me and how could he fail me. But Scorp...Scorp got even madder.

"No one said you could talk, Potter," Scorpius said. I could tell that Albus was taken aback. But unlike when he argues with me, he just sat there. "How could you do this? You made her cry and then you hook up with her and now her hand is in your pants? Aren't you my fucking best friend? I should've killed you a long time ago, but now it's time to make up for lost time-"

I was fully prepared for Albus to get killed by Scorpius. But as always, the lovely Rose stepped in and saved the day.

"Scorpius!" Rose said. (In a shockingly similar way to her mum said "Ron!" Apparently Hermione's brains weren't the only Rose got from her). She came in front of him and PUT HER HANDS ON HIS CHEST. If I weren't so scared for my life I would definitely be freaking out more. Scorpius looked at her, and you could tell he was taken aback by the fact that Rose was touching him. In a soothing tone, she said, "It's Albus and Addie, Scorp. They wouldn't do anything together. You're letting your overprotective side get the best of you." Rose removed her hands from his chest and put it on either side on his face when she saw he wasn't calming down (although I think he isn't calming down because she's touching him and he wants to jump up and down but he can't). For a few moments, they just looked at each other, and I totally thought they were gonna kiss. (They didn't though. Insert Addie's sad face). I managed to loosen my wrist a little by letting go of the cloak but it was still stuck on something. "I know you don't want to see Addie hurt again. But remember, she doesn't forgive easily, just like Albus doesn't say sorry easily. It's very doubtful that they were hooking up. They probably fell when James walked in. You're a great cousin, but Addie isn't that dumb. Neither is Al. They wouldn't ever go near each other."

Scorpius seemed to believe her, because he calmed down a lot (Rose was still holding his face but then slowly put her hands down. If Scorpius didn't know that she liked him before, then he definitely would've known now). I managed to pull my wrist free of whatever was holding it back.

"Oh!" I said. "That's why my bracelet was stuck. It was stuck on your wand! I was wondering why it was so hard."

I saw Alice and Louis share a glance and bust out laughing. Everyone looked at them.

"Oh, come on," Louis said. "Her bracelet was stuck on his wand, no wonder it was so hard? You guys get what she's saying right."

So the calm Scorpius? Yeah he disappeared and went back to being the incredible Hulk.

I have been scared for my life way to many times on this train.

* * *

A/N: I have mixed feelings about this chapter..

You should tell me what you think about it so that I can decide if I like it or not! :)

I hope you enjoy the story so far and please review :D


	5. The Madness of a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

So Scorpius didn't hurt Albus too badly. Louis and James were able to pull him off.

But Albus still got a black eye.

This is why you don't mess with Scorpius.

Well I guess this is my fault. It was my hand in his pocket. But Scorpius somehow though it was Albus' fault.

Oh well. No point in trying to argue with him. He's way to stubborn.

The Welcome Back Feast was pretty much the same as every other year. Little firsties got sorted, food appeared and everyone ate until they felt like they were going to explode. All students talked loudly and pretty much went crazy.

Scorpius was making things awkward by just staring at his food and only talking to Rose. (Okay so even when he's mad he still talks to Rose. How cute is that?! I think it's adorable and even more of a reason for them to be together. Besides at one point he touched Rose's hand and I could tell she was freaking out on the inside. Oh, young love).

"Come on Scorp, we'd better go lead the first years," Rosie said, getting up off the bench. Scorpius glanced from me to Albus as if we would pounce on each other at moment.

"Don't worry Scorp, I'll make sure these two don't do anything scandalous," Louis said, receiving a glare from Scorpius.

"If you're not careful you'll be the one with the black eye next," Alice said to Louis once Rose and Scorpius were gone.

Louis shrugged. "Bruising makes a man more sexy. But I guess that I'm already so sexy, it would be hard to make me more sexy."

Alice rolled her eyes and started heading out of the Great Hall. We all started following her when she said, "Whatever you say, Louis. You aren't that sexy."

"What?!" Louis practically screamed. He pushed Albus and I out of the way so he could catch up with Alice. "You obviously are delusional. I'm clearly the most sexy man here."

They somehow managed to walk past the large amounts of students and far ahead of us, arguing if Louis was sexy or not (He was. Just for the record). Which left me and Albus walking to the common room.

Together.

Great.

"How's your eye?" I asked, as we worked our way through the mass of students.

"It's fine," Albus said. "Doesn't hurt as much anymore."

"Good," I said. We walked in silence for a while.

Things had been awkward between Albus and I after the episode on the train. We weren't allowed to be in the same carriage so he went with Rose and Alice, while I went with Scorpius and Louis.

Scorpius made me sit right next to him and told me how I am never allowed to date anyone, ever, because boys are bad. Boys will only break peoples hearts. He used Louis as an example and made me promise not to date or do anything stupid with Louis or boys like Louis.

Louis was offended that Scorpius thought he was a jerk. But then Scorpius pointed out that he's the same. And that I should never, ever, not in a million years, or if my life were depending on it, go out with boys like them. I need to find a nice boy who wasn't going to fight with me or stand up to me and wait on me hand and foot. Someone who was loyal, kind, my best friend.

I asked him where I could get one of those since they don't exist.

Deciding I didn't want to walk in silence anymore (it was so awkward. Because we were clearly walking together but we weren't talking and just the fact that we were walking together after he apologized and then I fell on him and got my hand stuck in his pants and both our lives were in danger that was awkward. I hate awkwardness) I decided to talk to Albus. About anything.

Really I would have talked about anything.

Potions, charms, summer.

Even nargles. I would talk about nargles even though I have no idea what the fuck nargles are.

"So..." I said. "Um...ugh..."

Albus eyed me strangely. "So...trying to think of something to say?"

I couldn't help but crack a little smile at this. "Yeah, I just really hate-"

"ALBUS!" a voice screamed from down the hall. "OH BABY, I MISSED YOU!"

Well, speaking of things I hate.

It's Albus' ex-girlfriend and forever stalker, Erica Ericson.

I wonder what her parents were thinking naming her that.

It's a bimbo name. And a stripper name.

They must have known that their daughter would turn out the way she did.

How she ended up in Ravenclaw I will never understand.

"Shit," Albus said, realizing who it was. It was good to know I wasn't alone in hating her.

"Don't want to see your little girlfriend, Potter?" I mocked, flashing the Malfoy smirk. It wasn't fighting. Just teasing.

"No, Malfoy," he said, glaring at me. "She is not my girlfriend and I don't want to see her."

Erica's cries for Albus were getting closer and closer.

"Well you might want to tell her that," I said about to walk away when I felt his hand on my wrist.

"Oh, no Malfoy," he said as he pulled me back. "I got a black eye because of you. Now you get to deal with this for me." I was about to protest when he said, "Are you about to start an argument Malfoy? You will lose the bet after only a few hours?" I glared at him and he smirked. "That's what I thought. You know this is fair."

"Life isn't fair," I said, as the annoying twat came up to us and threw herself over Albus.

"OH ALBUS, I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! DON'T EVER LEAVE ME AGAIN! YOU NEVER VISTED ME AND I NEARLY FELL APART!" She was strangling Albus but he pulled her off of him and put her arms length away. While he was doing this I had a very good look at his arms muscles.

All I can say is, damn.

How did he get his arms so nice? And how am I just noticing this?

DAMMIT ADDIE YOU'RE THINKING HE'S ATTRACTIVE AGAIN!

Oh, hello brain. It's me hormones. How are you?

ADDISON MALFOY DON'T YOU DARE KEEP THINKING HE'S ATTRACTIVE.

But he is...

NO, NO HORMONES, HE IS NOT. STOP THINKING THESE THINGS.

Okay brain.

THAT MEANS STOP STARING AT THEM TOO.

But they are so nice to look at!

ADDIE STOP.

But-

STOP.

Bu-

STOP. ALBUS IS WONDERING WHY YOU ARE STARING AT HIM.

I looked up and saw Albus was indeed looking at me with a questioning look. I pulled my eyes off of his amazing arm muscles (sad) and looked over at Erica.

Oh great, she was giving me the death glare.

Should I death glare back?

Nah, I'll take the high road.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

I'm so mature.

"I just don't understand Albus!" She whined. And that's when I noticed the tears.

Shit, what did I miss when I was staring at Albus' arms?!

"Erica," Albus said, trying to be patient, but I could tell he was getting pissed off. His jaw was clenched, which normally only happens when I start to argue with him. I knew that when the jaw clenched, I was getting exactly what I wanted, which was making him angry. "I told you last year, in March for Merlin's sake, and you can't seem to get it."

"Get what Alby?" She asked. I couldn't but snicker at that, receiving glaring looks from both of them. But come on, Alby? That's just hilarious.

"That I don't like you. That I dumped you. That I don't want you in my life," Albus said. "You're a clingy, annoying little girl, who doesn't seem to understand what no means. All you seemed to care about was my family image, you never cared about me. You're a fucking poser who really could care less about anyone else as long as she got what she wanted. Well here's something you can't seem to understand: I don't fucking like you. You're a slut who cheated on me and didn't care about me so stay out of my fucking life. Go run home to your rich daddy and beg for more money, maybe he'll actually start to pay attention to you more. Or maybe go try and talk to your mom if she can get away from one of the many affairs she's having. Merlin, you're pathetic. "

Okay. Even I dropped my jaw at that. I knew he had a temper but what was with him these days? He's just hitting the low blows. I looked over at Erica and saw her staring at him in shock.

"Albus," I said. I surprised myself by putting my hand on his arm, trying to force him to look at me. "I think you went to far."

"Addie," he said, his voice low as he pulled my hand off of his arm. "Stay out of this."

Erica looked between us with a shocked look on her face. "Oh now I get it, Albus," she said. "It's not about you not wanting me. It's about your loyalty to your new girlfriend."

Girlfriend? Albus had a girlfriend?

This is brand new information.

Hopefully Scorpius will get off my back about what happened on the train if he has a girlfriend.

"You have a girlfriend?" I asked Albus.

"Apparently," he said. "Erica what the hell are you talking about? I don't have a new girlfriend. I just don't want to be with you. Like I didn't in March."

"Please Albus," she said as she sniffled. "Don't lie to me about your love life when you are showing it off right in front of me."

What?! I am so confused right now. It's only Albus and me here.

She really is as dumb as her name.

"You two are clearly together!" She yelled, causing some students to look back at us. "Albus you're dating Malfoy! It's clear. I get it, and you two are torturing me by showing it off in front of my face."

"Erica, are you insane?" I asked her. I'm very worried for her mental state if she thinks that Albus and I are dating. I should owl St. Mungo's now and book her a room in the mental ward. "We are not dating."

"You two are holding hands!" she yelled again. I looked down at my hand and saw it was in Albus'. I didn't notice that. Shit. "You are standing here with him and walking back to your common room together! Albus I thought you always thought she was an annoying bitch!"

"I do think she's an annoying bitch!" Albus yelled. I looked at him and he said, "Sorry."

"Well then why are you with her?!"

"For the last time we aren't together!" Merlin how thick do you have to be?! I pulled my hand out of his to prove it.

"Lies will get you no where, Malfoy," she said as she came face to face with me. She was shorter than me, and I'm only 5'4", so she was really short. "You mark my words I will get him back. No matter what you do, I will get my Alby back."

She turned around and walked away. "I don't want him!" I yelled at her back. "I don't even have him! Take him! I don't care! Take him if you want him! I don't want him! He's yours! He is all yours! I hate him! Take him if you want him so badly!"

She turned around with a laugh. "Oh, Malfoy," she said to me. "I don't know how you are trying to play this game but I promise you, I will win."

"What game?!" I yelled at her retreating back. "I'm not playing a game! There is absolutely nothing going on between Albus and I!" But no matter what I said, she just kept walking down the hall toward her tower.

"How the hell did she get into Ravenclaw?" I asked Albus.

He shrugged. "Beats me."

"She's a psychopath."

"I know. Kind of the reason why I dumped her."

I sighed and played with one of my curls. "Weirdest day ever?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Weirdest day ever."

There was no argument over that.

* * *

"OI! SHUT IT!" James yelled at the mass of students standing in the Quidditch Pitch. It had been two weeks since school started and that meant one thing in James Potter's mind: Quidditch. "There is one position on the team. We need a keeper. So separate into groups based on how much experience you have."

The group shuffled around, trying to arrange themselves. There were about 20 people, mainly younger kids, as many of the older kids have heard of James' craziness of being Quidditch captain. He was kind of...passionate about Quidditch. There were a few older kids, mainly boys (none of whom were attractive).

"Well this is sure an interesting turn out," Louis said, as he put his arm around me. "Hopefully some of them are good otherwise James might have an aneurysm."

I laughed and leaned into him. "He's crazy," I said as he made some people leave he field when they said they wanted to try out for a chaser position. He flipped and yelled at them saying that all positions were taken by Scorpius, himself and me. "You excited to get a new keeper?"

"Yeah except for no one will be as good as Wood was," Louis said. Michael Wood was the other beater last year and he got drafted to the Canons, much to his father's dismay (His dad played for Puddlemere). "We will just have to see who is even some what close."

"True," I said.

"Lou, Scorp will kill you if he sees this," Albus said. He was standing next to Louis and was looking over at Rose talking to Scorpius. Louis removed his arm from around me (dang, I love his Veela arm around me. Not that I like him like that though he is just extremely attractive).

Albus and I had been pretty civil toward each other since the train. We would exchange words and had full conversations on more than one occasion. It was good. We hadn't had an argument but we've had bicker spats. We wouldn't be us without our bicker spats.

"He'll only kill me because of what happened on the train between you two," Louis said.

"Louis nothing happened," I said, sighing. Louis seemed convinced that something had actually happened on the train. Especially when Erica Ericson started saying we were dating. People are so dumb.

"Sure," Louis said. "Sure, Addie we'll just go with that."

I rolled my eyes at him. It was useless trying to convince Louis otherwise. He was such a stubborn little git.

"So has anyone else noticed that Rose and Scorpius have been pretty friendly towards each other lately?" Louis asked. That boy could not stay silent for long. He was like a little kid.

"Yeah I have," I said, smiling. They were so cute. Even from a distance I could tell Rose had on a shy smile that she rarely wears. And Scorpius was looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing ever. They were so adorable. If I didn't want them to be together I might have puked.

"So have I," Albus said. "And I don't like it."

That brought me out of my oh-aren't-they-so-cute trance and back into reality. I whipped my head around to look at him. "Why don't you like it?"

"Because she's my cousin," he said, still watching them. "And he's my best friend. I know what he does to girls and I'm not letting that happen to Rose."

"How do you know he's going to hurt her?" I asked. "What if it's actually different for him?"

"But what if it's not?" Albus asked me. I noticed Louis backing away slowly to go stand with James. "Then Rose will be in tears and I will have to kill my best friend. There's no way I'm letting that happen."

"Oh. do they need your permission?" I asked him. I was really starting to get pissed off. But I couldn't start a fight. I would not lose the bet.

"No," Albus said, his jaw clenching. He was getting angry too but he wasn't going to give in to actually argue. We were having a discussion. "But I will stop it. Rose doesn't deserve to have her heart broken. She's better then that."

"Are you saying that you're convinced that he will break her heart?" I asked him. "Or are you saying he isn't good enough for her?"

"No one is good enough for Rose," he said.

"Not even your best friend," I said. "Who you trust more then anything, who you've known since you were 11, who is pretty much your brother-"

"Yes he is all that but that doesn't mean I want him dating my cousin!" He said at me. "You saw how angry he got when he thought something was going on between us and you think that it's different if I were to get mad about something going on with him and Rose?"

"It is different!" I said. "There is nothing going on between me and you and besides Scorpius thought we were just hooking up! Rose would never just hook up with someone and maybe Scorpius actually wants to be with her! And trust me when I say this, I would never be with you, so Scorpius doesn't need to worry about that. You are a huge jerk, who doesn't even seem to think his best friend is good enough for his cousin and I absolutely hate you!"

We were really close again. Like our chests were almost touching close. And I noticed that his eyes changed when he seemed to realize how close we were. All of a sudden all the anger was gone from his eyes and replaced with something that I didn't understand. I saw him gulp. All of a sudden I just became really nervous and had butterflies in my stomach as I stared into his eyes.

I need to look away.

Okay look away...NOW.

Why am I not looking away? I said look away!

I can't seem to turn my head. Dammit these butterflies need to stop.

But he wasn't looking away either. He was standing there staring back at me with that weird expression. I honestly have no clue what is going on but I get the feeling he is just as nervous as I am.

He is so attractive.

"Um, Addie? Al?" Albus and I snapped out of whatever weird trance we were in and looked away. I all of sudden felt really awkward like I was caught doing something I wasn't supposed to. I looked up and saw Scorpius and Rose standing there staring at us.

"Ugh...hi," I said, trying to ignore how awkward I felt.

"Hi," Rose said, seeming to pick up on my awkwardness. "What were you two doing?"

That is a good question Rosie.

"Talking," Albus said. And I noticed that his voice matched mine. Shaky with a bit of awkwardness.

"Okay..." Rose said. She looked at Scorpius and I saw him looking at the sky trying to avoid the awkwardness. So it wasn't just Albus and I. Even Rose and Scorpius felt the awkwardness from catching Albus and I doing...nothing. "Well, I'll go sit in the stands." She turned to face Scorpius. "Um...good luck Scorpius," she said and she kissed him on the cheek. I might have freaked out a little more if I wasn't so awkward.

"Thanks," Scorpius said. He seemed kinda in a daze and walked away from Albus and I with a goofy smile on his face.

Which left Albus and I alone again.

Dammit.

"Um," I said, looking at anything but him.

"We should, ugh," Albus said, seeming flustered. Which was weird because Albus NEVER gets flustered. "We should, um go, ugh to the um team."

"Yeah," I said. Why are we so awkward? Just two minutes ago we were arguing and now we can't even look at each other. We were just staring at each other. So why the fuck is this so awkward? "That, um, might be good."

So we walked over to the rest of them (far away from each other, but no matter how far I got I still felt extremely awkward. I was in a cloud of awkward) and stood in the circle that had formed. Majority of the people had left the field and were sitting in the stands, they probably left after they heard the crazy practice schedule and what we do for training. There were only about five, Hugo being one of them.

Right now, the team made up of me, Scorpius and James as chasers, Louis and Freddy as beaters, and Albus as the seeker. James didn't want the entire team to be his family and friends, but we couldn't help it that we were better then everyone else.

If Hugo made the team, James would be annoyed because then it would seem like he was picking favorites.

Hugo was a fourth year and he wasn't very social. Even though I was best friends with Rose and over at their house all the time, I rarely saw the kid. He was always up in his room or out with his friends (at least I assumed he was out with his friends. I'm actually not sure where he was). So in six years I have probably said less then six words to him.

"Alright, everyone line up and then you will have your turn blocking the hoops. Scorpius, Addie, and I," he motioned to us. "We will try and make the Quaffle into the hoop. Whoever blocks the most is on the team."

They started getting in a line and I walked up to Hugo. "Hey, Hugo."

"Hey Addie," he said, nodding at me.

"I didn't know you were trying out," I said. "When did you decide to do that?"

He shrugged. "Over the summer."

Wow this is such an amazing conversation.

"Well good luck," I said and walked toward my broom. Scorpius still had the goofy grin on his face and was looking up at Rose reading in the stands. "Scorpius could you make it more obvious?"

He looked at me. "I could ask you the same thing."

I looked at him questioningly. "What?"

He nodded over to Albus, who was talking with Louis. "Exactly what I said. You sure make it pretty obvious."

"I'm sorry Scorpius, what?" I said. Because I think I know what he's talking about but I'm not sure.

"Addie, it's very simple to understand," he said as he handed me my broom.

"No, Scorp it's not-"

"OI! ARE YOU TWO ACTUALLY GOING TO PLAY?" James yelled at us from the air.

Scorpius pulled at my braid and said, "Don't worry about it Ads." And then he was up and in the air.

And of course because he said not to worry about it I was worrying about it. The entire time I was playing, trying to score, I was worrying about it. Was he implying that I liked Albus?

God no. That's weird. Albus is a jerk.

Most of the people trying out for keeper were bad. Like really bad. Like I got everything in and I'm totally distracted bad.

That is until Hugo (he was last). He blocked every single Quaffle anyone threw at him. He was awesome. I was amazed. He must have practiced really hard to get like that.

"Hugo!" I yelled, as I ran toward him after we all landed. "How did you become so good at Quidditch?"

"I've been training," he said.

"Well you looked amazing out there! You're getting on the team for sure!"

He nodded. "Yep. I'm gonna hit the shower."

"Okay," I said. I got the feeling he didn't want to talk to me and I was insulted because of it. "Well bye."

"Bye."

Once he was in the locker room, with nearly everyone else with him, I said, "Well I could've had a better conversation by myself."

"Don't take it personally," a voice behind me said, as I jumped. I turned around and saw the smirking face of Albus. "Scared, Malfoy?"

"Yeah, I kinda am because this creeper came up behind me," I said back. "And what do you mean, 'don't take it personally'?"

"Don't be insulted that Hugo didn't talk to you," Albus said. "He doesn't talk very much. I thought you would have noticed that after being Rose's friend for so long."

"I have noticed," I said. "I just assumed it was because he didn't like me."

"Nope. He just doesn't talk much," he said looking around the nearly empty pitch.

"Yeah well sucks for him on missing out on an awesome person like me."

"Sure, Malfoy," Albus said in a sarcastic tone. He was looking off around the now deserted pitch.

We were silent for a few seconds and I turned around to talk towards the locker rooms. "Addie," I heard him say. I turned around and faced him. He walked closer to me and looked at the ground. "What I said before, I didn't mean that Scorpius isn't good enough for Rose. In fact, he's probably perfect for her."

"So then why don't you want them to be together?" I asked looking at my shoes because I felt awkward if I was looking at him looking at the ground.

"Because I don't want one of them getting hurt," he said. I crept a look at him and saw that he was frowning at the ground. "Love doesn't always last. Yes, with most people it might but there is no guaranty, nothing saying it will last forever. If they got hurt because of each other, well, that would suck because both of them are my best friends."

I thought about this. "I guess we're in the same boat," I said.

"And if they started dating, then what if they became that couple where they forget about their friends? Then it would just be you and me," he said. "And we're not exactly friends."

"Well apparently you haven't heard the rumors," I said trying to lighten the mood. "Because apparently we're more then friends."

He brought his eyes up to me and smiled. "Oh yeah, I forgot."

We were quiet again. But I had a question nagging in my mind.

"So, earlier, was that fight?" I asked.

"I was wondering the same thing," Albus said. "But I don't think it was. Only because I can't tell who started it."

"Meaning you started it," I said poking his chest. He grabbed my hand and pulled it off. Maybe I was imagining this, but he held onto for longer then necessary.

"So you think Rose and Scorpius would make a good couple?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah," I said, smiling at thinking of how they were when they were together. "I really think they would."

"And you are trying to get some plan to get them to be together?"

'I'm figuring stuff out," I said, even though that was a lie. I had no idea how to get them to go out.

"And no matter what I say, you will still try and get them to be together?"

"Pretty much."

"Well," Albus said running a hand through his hair. "I guess I'll have to just deal with this."

"I guess so," I said back.

He looked at me and smiled a small smile.

I could tell that this wasn't a normal smile. He was telling me that if I thought it was right, he would back off. He would let me try to get Scorpius and Rose to be together no matter what the outcome may be. He was offering a friendship of sorts.

I wasn't sure if I was ready to take that next step. Yes, we agreed to try and be friends, but this was the first thing where that seemed actually possible. I wasn't sure what to do.

I let my instincts take over.

I felt myself do a small smile back.

* * *

A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated! I was suffering MAJOR writers block, which may explain this chapter. It's mainly a filler chapter but there is key stuff.

I would like to thank all of you are reading this story and continue to read it. I hope that you enjoy it.

Please please PLEASE review! I honestly love reviews and they give me motivation to write for you all!

LOVE YOU.

xoxo


	6. The Madness of Hooking Up

It wasn't even October and I was already failing Defense Against the Dark Arts.

I didn't even know how this happened. I had never been THAT bad at Defense. Yeah, I struggled but I always managed to pull an Acceptable. Now, I had a Troll.

Yeah, I had a T.

The lowest grade you could possibly get. And I somehow managed to get it after only 3 weeks of school.

Let's just say Rose didn't know about this. She'd freak. She would go on and on about how I need to focus and how I will never be able to get a job with this.

Honestly she was worse than Draco or Astoria.

Combined.

And they are very annoying about school. If I don't keep all my grades above an A, they take away everything. I'm not kidding. No visiting Rose, no leaving the house, no letters, no broom, nothing. I pretty much have to stare at a wall.

The summer after first year was not a fun one.

"Addie, will you stop studying? It's lunch time," Alice said to me. I was doing the Defense homework that was due the next day. However, I hadn't even started on it yet.

That could be a reason as to why I was getting a T.

"I just want to get as much done before tonight as I can," I said, scribbling down an answer from the book. "Especially since I will probably have to rewrite it in order for it to be readable."

"Addie, what I have told you about doing your assignments?" Rose said. It was just Rose, Alice and I right now because the boys were held into Transfiguration for blowing up the rat they were supposed to be changing into an eagle. There were guts everywhere. It was gross. I don't know how they managed to blow it up.

Well, Louis and Scorpius blew it up. Albus, of course, didn't.

He was talking with Professor Morgan about the possibility of tutoring someone.

Prick. He just has to be perfect in everything.

I'm starting to think it's something the Wotter's put into their food. Because all of the children are great at everything. Even the stuff they aren't great at, they are better at it then the average person.

Maybe I should get them tested to see if they are being given steroids by their parents to make them super-human-smarty-pants-attractive-awesome-Quidditch-players-and-appealing-to-the-other-gender children.

That would be quite a story. WOTTER FAMILY IS POISIONING CHILDREN. THE BOY WHO LIVED IS THE MAN WHO HAS ARTIFICAL CHILDREN.

Oh, that would be funny.

"To do it in the library, right when it's assigned and not wait until the last minute. Only people who don't want to go anywhere in life wait until the last minute," I said, repeating what she has been telling me for the past six years.

"Why am I surprised that you didn't listen to me?" Rose asked. Alice and I both looked at her blankly.

"Rose you've known her for six years, I would think you'd be used to Addie not listening to you about school," Alice said. "She marches to the beat of her own drum."

Rose shook her head. "Well, that definitely is true. You never listen to anyone. Which is actually a good thing. But it would be nice if you listened to me at least once."

Even though she was semi-joking, I could tell she meant it. I could see how it bothered her when I didn't listen to her.

"Well Rose, I'm going to listen to you right now," I started packing my book away into my bag. I grabbed my essay off the table. I'm going to go to the library right now and I'm going to-"

But right as I turned, all of a sudden, I felt wet.

And cold.

Fucking great.

"Shit!" I heard a male voice say. "Shit I'm sorry!"

I opened my eyes to see a boy in my year from the Hufflepuff house. He put down the now empty cup (because he spilt it on me) and grabbed some napkins and handed them to me.

"It's fine," I said. And it was. Until I looked at my homework. It was covered in pumpkin juice, just like the rest of me was. "Fuck!"

"What?" The Hufflepuff asked. I think his name began with an R.

"Ugh shit!" I yelled as I grabbed some napkins to see if I could save my homework. It occurred to me that swearing in the Great Hall might not be the best idea, but at this point, I didn't really care. "Fuck! No! No!"

"What is it?" The Hufflepuff asked again. I think his name was Roger?

"My Defense homework is completely soaked!" I said, as I watched the ink flow down the damp paper. "Shit I'm even more behind than I already was!"

"Here, let me see it," Roger/Ryan/Ralph said. I must have look hesitant because he said, "I'm a Hufflepuff. I think you can trust me."

I cracked a smile at this and handed over my now dripping homework. Randall/Ray/Reed pulled out his wand and started mumbling. I was very confused.

Regan/Remus/Ren handed over my paper. "Here you go, good as new."

I looked down at the now completely dry paper he gave me and looked back up at him in shock. "How did you do that? It's completely legible." I examined it again. "And it looks like it's finished." I looked back at him. "This wasn't finished when I handed it to you. It was also sopping wet. So how'd you do that?"

"Oh, I was just saving a damsel in distress," he said, laughing.

"You do realize you caused my distress right?" I asked him.

He blushed. "Technicality. Any excuse to help a beautiful girl."

Now it was my turn to blush. "Oh...um...thanks," I said shyly.

He must have seen my blush because he smirked. But not like Albus' jerk smirk. More like a...yeah I flattered the hot girl smirk. He held out his hand. "I'm Caleb."

Well, there goes my theory of his name beginning with an R.

I put my hand in his and smiled. "I'm Addie. Thank you for saving me from distress."

"Well thank you for allowing me to put you in distress," Caleb said with a laugh.

"And thank you for getting your hands off Addie," said the loud, powering voice of a James Sirius Potter.

"I'm really sorry Caleb," I said quickly. "Really, really sorry."

"What for?" He asked, very confused.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't another boy flirting with Addie," James said as he came up behind Caleb. I saw that Freddy and Lou were also behind him.

This should be interesting.

"Hey James," I said, moving so that I was in front of Caleb. I noticed that my back was very, very close to his chest and I could feel the heat radiating from it. I would be lying if I said I didn't get butterflies. "What's up?"

"Not much Ads," James said. I saw that he seemed to notice how close Caleb and I were. "Who's the new boy?"

"This is Caleb," I said, not moving from my post in front of him. I was a little worried as to what James might do. Ever since the incident on the train, he had been very protective. "Louis, where's Scorpius?"

"He had to go up to the common room to get something," Louis said, eyeing Caleb. Why do I have such overprotective male friends? "Albus went with him."

"Yeah, Caleb, you know Albus right?" Freddy said, glaring at Caleb. Freddy had never been super protective before. Why is he starting now? Go back to not caring about me! Please!

"Albus Potter?" Caleb asked. "Yeah, I know of him."

"Yeah, Albus Potter," James said, glaring at Caleb. I realized we were causing quite the scene and many people were looking over at us. I saw Dom enter the Great Hall and saw what was going on and headed over here. "My little brother. I don't think he'd be too appreciative of you flirting with Addie."

This got my attention. "And why wouldn't he be okay with that?" I asked James.

All three of the boys laughed. "Because of what happened on the train," Freddy said. "You may deny it, but we know you two are hooking up."

ARE YOU SERIOUS? THIS IS STILL GOING ON?

Caleb moved out from behind me. "You're hooking up with Albus Potter?"

"No!" I said. Dom picked up her walking pace, heading straight toward us. Oh, please be allowing her to save me, instead of joining in her idiotic family ideas. "And I've told these idiots that but they don't believe me!"

"Addie, you two have spent six years focusing only on each other," James said. "You haven't dated anyone else, except that one tool-"

"That's not by my choice!" I yelled at him. Maybe I was being a little over dramatic. But who cares? You do? Then leave. Accept my melodramatic ways. "You idiots and my idiotic brother are so overprotective that it is impossible for a boy to like me without fear of getting killed!"

"Killed?" Caleb asked, sounding scared. Great. The first boy who has shown interest in me in a long time is getting scared. Awesome.

I may as well accept the fact that I will be forever alone with 1900 cats.

Even though I hate cats.

"Addie, we're trying to protect you," James said.

"Protect me from what?" I said back. Freddy and Louis were watching, seeming thoroughly amused but still managing to glare at Caleb. "Boys? Why?"

"Because they'll hurt you-"

"So what?!" I said back. "So what if I get hurt, it's bound to happen sometime! I'm not twelve anymore, James. I can make my own decisions. You, Scorpius, Louis and whoever else need to stop being so over protective and over involved in my life. Just because I am a girl doesn't mean that I can't talk to boys. So you know what James? I'm going to the library."

James (and everyone else listening to our conversation) looked very confused at my statement. "Well...ugh...good Addie, you can focus on school-"

"With Caleb," I said and I grabbed his hand. I guess I should have asked Caleb if he wanted to come to the library or even be involved in this plan. Oh well. "If you need us you'll find us in the Restricted Section."

And I walked right past him, Caleb in tow.

Or, at least I tried. James was yelling after me so I just ended up walking faster and faster until I was running to the library. It's very hard to run while dragging someone bigger than you along so when we finally ended up in the Restricted Section, I was panting.

"Addie?" Caleb asked, looking at me worriedly. "Are you okay?"

I was panting and trying to make hand motions that said I was okay but he didn't seem to understand. I guess I'll have to try and speak. "I'm," pant. "Fine," pant.

"Do you want to sit down or something? Do you want me to get you a glass of water?" Caleb asked and as soon as I caught my breath I laughed. He gave me a strange look like he thought I might be mentally insane.

Which I may be. But that's another problem for another day.

"You Hufflepuffs are always so nice aren't you?" I asked him, smiling and leaning against the bookcase behind me. "Offering me water, finishing my homework for me, pretty much allowing me to drag you here just to spite my friend." I looked up at him. "Why would you let me do that?"

This was the first time I got a real good look at him. And all I can say is: DAMN. He's hot. He had dirty blonde hair, dark, chocolate brown eyes, and he seemed to have a pretty good build. I think he was on the Quidditch team, which would mean that he had one nice body.

Quidditch players always have good bodies.

It's like a law.

"Well," he said, putting an arm on the bookcase behind me. If someone were to see us, they'd totally think we were about to hook up. Which I'd be okay with. He's hot. Not as hot as Albus, of course, but still he's pretty hot. "We are always willing to help people. Even if a pretty girl does drag us into the Restricted Section, just to spite her over protective friend. We can't help it."

Wait. What?

Did I just say he's not as hot as Albus?

What is wrong with me?

I giggled, only half hearing what he said. "That's good then. You don't think I'm psychotic?"

Even though I may be, because I am one of the main hook up sections with a hot boy and thinking of how he's not as hot as another boy.

A boy I hate.

A lot.

"The jury is still out on that one," he said. I noticed that we were pretty close and he seemed to be leaning in. "You did drag a boy you barely know to the Restricted Section," he said in a whisper. Why was I even thinking of Albus? God Albus could never make whispering so sexy. Well maybe he could. "Even though everyone seems to thin you're hooking up with someone else right now."

Really? Really Caleb? I'm trying to focus on how attractive you are and you bring up Albus? "Well I'm not," I whispered back, trying to do the sexy whisper thing. I feel like I might be failing. In order to get Albus out of my mind, I grabbed Caleb's tie and started playing with it in my hands. Channel the flirty, sexy girls Addie. "So I guess it doesn't really matter that I'm here with you does it?"

I guess that I was channeling the flirty, sexy girls because Caleb was looking at me like he wanted to kiss me. At least, I think that's what it was. "I guess not," Caleb said.

We stood there for a minute, staring at each other and I realized he wasn't going to kiss me. Deciding to still channel the flirty, sexy girl I was pretending to be, I stopped playing with his tie, and pulled his head down to mine. Our lips met and it was...

It was nothing.

He was a good kisser, don't get me wrong. (Not that I have much to go off of but even I knew he was a good kisser.)

It made me weak in the knees but I didn't get butterflies.

Merlin, I somehow got more butterflies when I was talking to Albus.

Really brain? Really? You are making out with a hot boy, in the Restricted Section and you're going to think of Albus? Come on, at least think of a celebrity or something.

Although I guess Albus is a celebrity.

I wonder what making out with Albus is like.

Instead of Caleb's arms around my waist, they could be Albus' strong ones, pulling me closer to him, and his soft (at least I'm assuming they would be soft) lips would be on mine, I'd run my fingers through his beautiful, dark hair.

Merlin, I'm getting butterflies just thinking about it.

I could just imagine him saying my name over and over again...

"Addie!"

Yeah. Like that.

And suddenly Albus' lips were off mine.

Wait. I wasn't making out with Albus.

I was making out with Caleb.

And Albus was standing next to him, holding Caleb's robes, as if he pulled Caleb off me.

This was an awkward situation. I was standing there with the boy I was making out with and the boy I was imagining making out with.

"What the fuck, Addie?" Albus said to me. He looked kind of hurt.

"What do you mean 'what the fuck', Albus?" I asked, trying to appear annoyed and like I wasn't pretending I was making out with him.

"Why are you making out with some guy in the Restricted Section?" Albus said, raising his voice.

Ugh, I guess the Potter Boys were in a yelling mood today.

Caleb looked at me. "I thought you said you weren't hooking up with him?"

"I'm not!" I said.

"She's not!" Albus said at the same time, although he seemed much more annoyed with Caleb than I did.

Caleb looked between Albus and I with a strange look. He shook out of Albus' grasp and picked up his bag, which he put on the ground when we got here.

"There's clearly something between you two," Caleb said. Albus and I were both about to interrupt when he said, "I know that you say there isn't but there clearly something is. Maybe you two just hate each other or something. But I think James was right Addie." He looked between us again. "I think you two like each other."

And with that he left.

And Albus and I broke out laughing.

"What the hell is wrong with people?" I asked him as he leaned back on the book shelve behind him, mirroring my position. "Why does everyone think that because we're mean to each other we must like each other?"

"I don't know," Albus said. We both stopped laughing and looked at each other. And I realized what I was thinking earlier was true.

Albus is way hotter than Caleb.

Dammit.

"What?" Albus asked me. "Why are you staring me down?"

"I'm not staring you down," I said and looked over his head. "I'm looking at the books behind you."

"No," Albus said, getting up from leaning on the bookcase to look behind him. He pulled out a book and held it in front of my face as he walked in front of me. "I highly doubt you were looking at Fifteenth-Century Fiends."

I took the book from him and held it in my hands. "Actually," I said, opening the book. "This is exactly what I need."

I looked back up at him with a small smile on my face and saw that he was smiling back. Even with this, for some reason I got butterflies. We weren't any closer than Caleb and I were and yet it was having more of an effect on me.

Which was odd.

Because Albus and I hate each other.

Yet I was imagining making out with him earlier.

"So what's the deal with you and that Hufflepuff?" Albus asked, looking down at the ground. Now that we're "friends", I noticed that he did that when he was uncomfortable or trying to figure out a way to say something.

"His name is Caleb," I said.

He looked at me, as if asking if his name was relevant. "Fine. What's going on with you and Caleb?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I brought him here because James was being an overprotective prick and I kind of brought Caleb here to spite him."

"You made out with someone to spite my brother?" Albus asked, smirking. "That's a low blow, even for you."

I hit him on the chest. "I didn't make out with him to spite James! I just brought him here to spite James into thinking we were making out!"

Albus laughed. "Malfoy you are such a piece of work."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"So if you just brought Caleb here to spite James, how did you two end up making out?" Albus asked.

Of course I couldn't tell him the truth. That I made out with Caleb so I could stop thinking about Albus, even though that turned out to be a huge fail.

"I don't know we just did," I said. I looked down at the book, which was still in my hand. "Do you know how you end up making out with girls half the time?"

"I guess not," Albus said. He tried taking the book out of my hand but I refused to let it go. I looked up at him.

"You really going to try to take the book away from me?" I asked.

He smirked. "I'm not going to try to take it away, I will take it away."

"Oh you will?" I said smirking back. I stopped leaning on the bookcase and took a step closer to him.

"Yeah," Albus said, not backing off. "I will."

We started a tug of war of the book. I tried moving my hand so that Albus couldn't get it but his grip was still on it. We nearly fell four times until the book was out of both our hands and I was up against the bookcase, Albus leaning on me, both laughing our arses off.

My head was right in his chest and I was holding his robes to keep myself standing while I laughed. Albus hand his hands on the bookcase behind me and was using that to make sure he didn't fall.

Albus stopped laughing first. I nearly fell because I was still laughing so I clung to his robes even more and he put his arms around my waist when he saw that wasn't working. I started laughing even harder and pulled myself close to Albus and put my forehead on his chest.

"Wow, you laugh a lot Addie," he said, laughing himself. I could feel the vibrations of him speaking from his chest. I could also hear his heart beating really fast, nearly as fast as mine.

Man, laughing makes you tired. It's quite a work out since both our hearts seem to be hammering.

I looked up at him, still holding his robes and staying very close to him.

Did working our cause you to have butterflies?

"So who ended up getting the book?" I asked him.

"I don't know," Albus said. "I don't think either of us did since it ended up on the ground."

"Oh," I said, as I looked at his lips. They really did look soft. Really soft. I looked back up at his eyes.

"Hey Addie?" Albus said, looking down at me.

"Yeah?" I said back, ignoring the fluttering in the stomach.

"You have really pretty eyes," Albus said softly.

I couldn't help but smile at that. "Thanks. So do you."

"Thanks," Albus said.

Now, maybe I imagined this whole next part but I don't think I did. His arms tightened around my waist and his head started leaning in toward mine. I rose up on my toes as if to meet him in the middle. The butterflies in my stomach were insane.

Our heads were close. Really close. Our foreheads touched first and we stopped and just looked into each other's eyes. His beautiful green eyes. They looked different now, and he was looking at me in a way he had never looked at me before. I could feel his heart underneath his robes and it was beating like crazy. It's good to know I wasn't the only one who was feeling whatever we were feeling right now.

He shut his eyes and leaned his head down. I shut mine as well and waited for his lips to meet mine.

"Shouldn't you two be in class?!"

* * *

A/N: Yay new chapter! OMR THEY ALMOST KISSED! It's exciting! major Addie/Al action. Do you like it?

I'm sorry I haven't updated but I've been caught up in school, life, the usual.

Please review!

xoxo


	7. The Madness of Boys

_Our heads were close. Really close. Our foreheads touched first and we stopped and just looked into each other's eyes. His beautiful green eyes. They looked different now, and he was looking at me in a way he had never looked at me before. I could feel his heart underneath his robes and it was beating like crazy. It's good to know I wasn't the only one who was feeling whatever we were feeling right now._

He shut his eyes and leaned his head down. I shut mine as well and waited for his lips to meet mine.

"Shouldn't you two be in class?!"

"Fuck," Albus whispered. I opened my eyes and saw that he was only an inch away from meeting my lips.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Malfoy I suggest you stop making out and get to class," Madame Thompson said. Albus and I let go of each other and I tried to ignore the giant sadness that seemed to be filling myself.

I thought Albus was going to kiss me. I was hoping for it.

Clearly, I was losing my mind.

Madame Thompson followed us out of the library and made a point of slamming the door when we left.

"What class is it now?" I asked Albus, acting like we totally didn't almost kiss.

"Potions," he said back.

I started walking fast, because Potions was in the Dungeons and we were on the fourth floor. I managed to walk in front of Albus the entire time, until we reached the Entrance Hall.

"Addie," Albus said. "Addie, we need to talk about it."

"Talk about what?" I said, trying to make it to the dungeons as fast as humanly possibly.

"What happened in the library," Albus said. "Or...what didn't happen." I wasn't sure, but it sounded like he was disappointed that we didn't kiss. Which was odd.

Albus hates me. Why would he want to kiss me?

I made my way down the stairs and into the corridor of the dungeons. "We're already late Albus, I think we can talk later."

"Well I think we can be a little later to class," Albus said. He tried moving in front of me but I was too quick for him.

I see the door! Almost there!

"I'd rather not be late for class," I said. Almost at the door. Just ten more steps. Come on, Addie, you can do it.

"Addie!" Albus yelled. I didn't turn around. I was almost at the door. I could make it to class.

However, Albus really wanted to talk.

I heard him start running and before I could even react I felt his arms around my waist. I shrieked and tried to get free but was unable to.

"We need to talk!" Albus said, fighting my squirming ways.

"We need to get to class!" I screamed. I kept squirming, I even elbowed him in the gut but he didn't seem to feel it.

God damn his rock hard abs.

"Addie," Albus yelled, tightening his grip around my waist to try to stop me from squirming. "We. Need. To. Talk. Now!"

"Mr. Potter!" I stopped squirming and looked up at the now open door where the frail Professor Slughorn stood. "Would you mind putting your girlfriend down and having the two of you join us in class?"

Fuck. Even Ol' Sluggy thinks we're dating.

Even though he was blocking the door, I knew that the entire class was trying to see who Potter was with. All the Slytherin's, Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Huffle-

Shit.

I know why Caleb looked so familiar.

He was in my potions class. He had been for the past 6 years. But I never talked to him.

And now I had to see him after we made out. And probably after he thinks Albus and I made out.

Awesome.

Albus set me down and pulled his arms off me. I bent down to pick up my bag, which was knocked on the floor when Albus grabbed me but Albus beat me too it. He grabbed it and put it on my shoulder.

"Sorry sir," he said turning to Sluggy. "We'll try not to be late next time." He gave Sluggy the smile that he gave all the teachers (and girls. For some reason girls loved his award winning bright, white, perfect smile. I don't understand why.)

And of course, because it was Slughorn and he loved all the Wotter family children, he simple smiled at Albus. "Oh, Mr. Potter," he said, patting Albus on the back as he went into the classroom. "It's certainly alright. I'm just glad to see that you and Ms. Malfoy have finally come to your senses about each other!"

Albus and I both stopped dead in our tracks to see the entire class staring at us. Scorp looked murderous, Rose was giving us the "Oh they're so cute" look (no. I'm supposed to give her and Scorpius those looks she's not supposed to give them to me!), Louis and Alice were laughing their asses off and everyone else simple stared. I saw Caleb and instantly avoided eye contact, but I could tell he didn't look too pleased.

"Oh, the past six years of you two bickering, I always knew this day would come!" Sluggy kept saying, coming in front of Albus and I to look at us. I felt my face growing hot and I decided to stare at the ground. It was a safe place to look because it couldn't send me looks. "Just like your grandparents Albus, my, Lily and James argued all the time, although everyone could see they were crazy about each other, but then they ended up getting married! It's good to see that now I won't have you two bringing other dates to the Slug Club parties!"

"Um, Professor," I tried to speak up but he kept on going.

"Two of my favorite students, together at last! Finally, breaking the mold of your families!" Slughorn seemed pretty pleased with the idea of Albus and I. Which made no sense. Since that will never, ever, ever happen. Ever. "Well Albus, how long have you two been together?"

"I'm sorry, sir," Albus said. I didn't look from my spot on the ground. I noticed how dirty the floor looked and that there were many pieces of gum from past years. "But Addie and I aren't together."

I looked up at Slughorn and saw that his face instantly fell. He looked like someone just told him his cat had died. "Oh...but...why? I thought you two had feelings..."

"Yes that seems to be a common thought lately," I said, looking at Slughorn with a smile. He looked down at me with great disappointment. "Now, we're sorry for being late, but we would hate to delay the class any longer."

"Yes...yes...I suppose we should...class," Slughorn said, motioning for us to take seats. Rose, Scorpius, Alice and Louis were all at one station, so we would have to sit elsewhere. I looked back and saw that there were only two seats available.

Right next to Caleb.

Well this should be interesting.

Albus and I walked over to the table and Albus rushed to pull out my chair for me. He sat in the chair next to Caleb and accidentally hit him with his elbow.

"Sorry," Albus said, but when he bent down to pull his potion book out of his bag, I noticed his jerk smirk plastered on his face.

I hit him over the head. He looked up at me, seemingly annoyed and said, "What?"

"Be nice," I whispered to him, leaning in close to make him hear me. His face changed when he saw how close I was.

"Are you going to try to kiss me again?" Albus said. He still had on his jerk smirk and he moved his face closer to mine. Instantly I pulled back.

"No you prick!" I whispered, still trying to keep my voice low. "And as I recall, you tried to kiss me. Trust me, I would never, ever kiss you."

"Are we going to argue about this?" Albus said. "Because we could always change the bet to whoever starts the fight has to kiss the other person."

"Absolutely not," I said back. I was really tempted to hit him over the head with my potion book until he was unconscious. "We made the bet and we're sticking too it."

"So are you two actually going to work?" the Ravenclaw next to Caleb asked. "Because we don't need to sit with the two love bird if all you two are going to do is whisper to each other."

I saw Caleb start to look really uncomfortable. "Yes we are going to work," I said to the snooty Ravenclaw. "And just so you know, we're not dating. There's nothing going on with us."

This last part I directed more at Caleb but he was just looking at his book. The Ravenclaw looked at me skeptically. "Whatever." She got up. "Now will someone please help me get the ingredients?"

I shoved Albus out of his chair. "Albus will help you."

He looked at me, annoyed, and then looked at Caleb. "Try not to jump each other while I'm gone," he said.

"Don't worry, Potter, I won't jump your girlfriend," he muttered under his breath as Albus walked away.

I looked at him. "I'm not his girlfriend."

Caleb looked at me, clearly not believing me. "Doesn't look that way."

I don't know why, but I really hated that Caleb seemed jealous. Some people would say (cough James and Louis cough) that he had no right to be jealous. However, we had just made out and then almost kissed another boy. I felt horrible because he seemed like a nice guy. He didn't chose to get dragged down to the library and make out with me, only to have me bail on him.

"We're not dating. Not even secretly," I said. "You can make me take Veritaserum, I promise you we haven't ever dated or hooked up. You're kind of the only person I've ever hooked up with." I said the last part before I could even process what I said. "And I sound like a major loser for saying that. But it's the truth."

"I don't think you're a loser," Caleb said, this time smiling at me. "And I'm glad I'm the only person you've hooked up with. Good to know I picked a girl with values and respect for herself to hook up with. Girls who hook up with every boy have no respect for each other."

I decided it would be best not to tell him that it was more due to the fact that most boys lived in fear of Scorpius' wrath more than me having respect for myself.

If I could make out with all the boys I was attracted to without having to fear for their lives, well...let's just say that I would have lots of experience.

Caleb and I were just smiling at each other when Albus and the Ravenclaw came back. Albus sat down in his seat and placed the ingredients on the table.

"Well we should get started on the Draught of Living Death, right guys?" He said, overenthusiastically.

"Um, sure," Caleb said, uncomfortable by Albus' over eagerness.

For the rest of class, I don't really talk. I just made the potion. Potions has always been my favorite subject and was always something I excelled in. I enjoyed it and knew that I wanted to make it a part of my career after Hogwarts. Everyone else in the room, Albus and Caleb included were having difficulty with the potion. Potions was the one place where I actually rivaled Rose's top spot in the class.

At the end of the class, Slughorn came around to look at all the potions. Louis failed miserably, with Slughorn saying, "I expected more from you Weasley." Scorpius did all right, but he didn't stir it correctly. Albus got close, with Slughorn saying "Good job Potter, but not quite there. You seemed to not have inherited all of your Fathers potion making skills."

When he came over to mine he looked in and said, "Perfect, as usual Ms. Malfoy. Glad to see you haven't lost your skill over the summer."

"Thank you, Professor," I said back with a smile.

"Alright, you may go," Slughorn said. All of us packed up our stuff and I grabbed Caleb's arm before he could leave.

"I don't think we finished our conversation earlier," I said.

Caleb looked over my head and said, "I don't know if your cousin or your friends would like for you to ditch them." He got a strange look on his face. "Especially, you're 'not boyfriend'."

I turned around and saw that Albus did look annoyed, but when he saw me, he turned back around and headed toward the table with Rose, Scorp, Alice and Lou, all of whom seemed to not like that I wasn't waiting for them. I turned back to face Caleb. "They'll get over it. We were having a conversation that we never finished. So let me recap our conversation." I took a deep breath. "I've never hooked up or dated Albus, I think he's a snot nose prick. Caleb, you're the only person I've ever hooked up with, I don't are how big of a loser I sound like." I lowered my voice. "Addie, you don't sound like a loser, I'm glad that I'm the only person you've hooked up with."

Caleb was looking at me with and amused expression on his face. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the classroom. "Thanks Caleb, I'm glad you don't think I'm a total loser."

"It'd be hard to think you were a loser," Caleb said. "Crazy, yes, but a loser? Nope." He got quiet and seemed to be debating something, "So...there really is absolutely nothing going on with you and Potter? Nothing what so ever? Not even the start of something?"

Does almost kissing in the library count as nothing what so ever? Because that wasn't the start of something...was it?

No. Of course it wasn't.

It's Albus. There's nothing that could ever start between us.

"There is absolutely nothing going on between Albus and I," I said. "I promise."

Caleb smiled at the ground. "Good. So he won't kill me if I asked you to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

"Well he won't kill you," I said, absolutely flattered and shocked that I just got asked out. I just got asked out! I might not have to end up dying alone with 1900 cats! "However, I can't say the same for the rest of his crazy family. And my cousin. You saw what you got for just talking to me. Do you really want to know what will happen if you go on a date with me?"

"Addie," Caleb said, turning to face me. He pulled me out of the crowd and to a side corridor that was rarely used. "I want to go to Hogsmeade with you. I know I've never talked to you until today but I've had a crush on you since forth year. It sounds creepy when I say it out loud but it's true. Dumping that pumpkin juice on you was like a miracle because it forced me to talk to you. My friends were getting sick of hearing all the ways I would start a conversation with you and almost just straight up told you."

"Wait," I said. "You've liked me since we were 14 and you didn't tell me? Why didn't you just talk to me?"

"I was fourteen. I wasn't exactly slick with the ladies," he said. "So today, when I split pumpkin juice on you and then you brought me to the library and we...well you know...it was like a miracle. I still can't believe that it happened."

As creepy and weird as it may have sounded to other people, I didn't care that Caleb had liked me but never talked to me. I knew the feeling. My crush on Luke Wood was exactly the same. I loved him in silence.

And maybe followed him around Hogsmeade sometimes.

Don't judge me.

He was attractive.

"Yes," I said. "I'll go to Hogsmeade with you."

Instantly Caleb broke out into a huge grin. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall at 11 on Saturday. Don't bring you're money, I'm paying."

"Caleb you don't have to-"

"Yes, I do. It's the gentleman thing to do," he said.

I sighed. "Fine. You win."

"Don't sound so defeated," Caleb said, smirking.

"I hate losing. But I can't argue with you about the gentleman thing."

"Well," Caleb said and he moved his arms around my waist. "I think I know something we could do where we both win."

"Oh do you?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, his face leaning closer to mine. "I do."

And then he kissed me. Unlike in the library where I had to practically force him to kiss me, he kissed me first.

And there wasn't a thought of Albus in my mind.

* * *

For the rest of the day, I was in a good mood. No, a great mood. I had a date. With a cute boy who I had snogged twice.

And who was a very, very good kisser.

Everyone at the dinner table noticed my mood that night, but only Louis had the guts to actually say something.

"What the hell is up with you Ads?" he asked me, inspecting me as if I might have been under the influence of some Muggle drug. Once, last year Scorp, Albus and Louis decided to try smoking weed.

It was hilarious. But they got in a shit load of trouble.

"Just in a good mood," I said, smiling down at my food.

"And why is that?" Rose said. She was eyeing me, reading my expression in a way only Rose knew how. "Because you are never in this good of a mood unless it involves a boy. So my guess is that something happened with a certain boy." Her eyes slid to Albus who was sitting next to me.

"It does have to do with a boy," I told her. Scorpius instantly dropped his fork and looked at me as if I had told him I was pregnant. "I'm going on a date with Caleb this weekend."

"Who the hell is Caleb?" Scorpius asked.

"He's a Hufflepuff who-" I started but was interrupted by the wonderful Albus.

"He's the Hufflepuff who I caught Addie making out with in the library today," Albus said, nonchalantly. He just continued eating his potatoes like he didn't just send out a murdering squad.

"What?" Scorpius and Louis yelled.

"What do you mean she was making out with some guy in the library?!" Scorpius said, instantly turning the overprotective settings on. Joy.

"Scorpius calm down," I said. "It's not a big-"

"Not a big deal?" Scorpius asked furiously. Ugh. He needs to calm down. "You were slagging around with some guy in the library and it's not a big deal?! Where is this guy? Oh wait until he gets a piece of me-"

Scorpius stood up off the bench but stopped at Rose's voice.

"Scorpius Malfoy don't you dare go over there and beat that boy up! You sit down right now!" Rose yelled at him. Merlin she is such a mother. "Yes, Addie maybe should not have made out with a boy in the library. But he's taking her on a date. So just let him live for a little while longer because he could end up being a good boy for Addie. Merlin knows she deserves one with the crazy, over protectiveness of everyone here."

"But-" Scorpius started.

"No buts," she said. Scorpius slowly lowered himself down onto the bench beside Rose. "Besides I'm sure you have some plans of your own with whatever new girl you plan to string on for the next week."

Oh. This is awkward.

Scorpius looked at her, stabbing her food on her plate (probably it was imagining it was whatever girl Scorpius was going to take to Hogsmeade) and smiled. "Well actually Rose," he said. Oh my God was he going to ask her out? It sounds like it! Please, please, please. "I was thinking-"

"I don't care what you were thinking," Rose said, interrupting Scorpius. I tried to restrain myself from screaming out in annoyance that Rose just sabotaged herself in getting a date with the boy she's been in love with since first year. "Honestly, I don't know why I even asked. It's not like I care who you go with. Or don't go with."

Scorpius seemed taken aback, and I can't blame him. He was just shot down by the girl he likes. Without even asking her. Everyone just sat in silence, not knowing waht to say.

Wow. You can feel the awkwardness. It's like we're in a sea of awkward. We're all just swimming through the deep sea of awkward.

"So, um Addie how'd you get so good at potions?" Alice asked, clearly looking for some other way to change the topic.

"It's just something I've always been good at," I said. "According to Draco my mum was-" I stopped myself when I realized what I was saying. I never talked about Mum. Ever. I hadn't even thought of her since the party when Albus brought it up. Suddenly, I lost my appetite. "You know what? I think I'm going to just head up to the dorms. I'm tired."

And I got up and walked straight toward the dorms. I didn't look at anyone and I didn't talk to anyone.

Once I got inside the girls dorms and put everything on my side of the room, I laid down on my bed. I put my hands on my face and took deep breaths, trying to think of anything but Mum.

"Addie?" I heard Rose say. I opened my eyes and saw her and Alice standing at the door. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

They came over and sat on my bed. "I'm sorry about that," Alice said. "I didn't know about your Mum and...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't know," I said. "It's not your fault Alice. It was a long time ago."

"But still, I shouldn't have said anything," Alice said.

"Don't beat yourself up," Rose said. "You wanted to change the topic from Scorpius' date to something else. You didn't know this would happen."

"Rose, Scorpius doesn't have a date to Hogsmeade," I said.

"Yeah he does," she said, looking down at the bed. "He asked some fifth year after you left."

"Oh," I said. "I'm sorry Rose."

"Why are you sorry?" she asked. "It's not as if I like him or anything."

"Okay that is the biggest lie I've ever heard," Alice said.

Rose glared at Alice. "Well then let's talk about your crush on Louis."

Instantly Alice turned bright red. "I don't have a crush on Louis."

"Bullshit!" I yelled. "Merlin, forget homework. I think a much needed girls night in is in order!"

"I second that!" Alice yelled. She called Kretcher, the Wotter Family/Hogwarts house elf and said, "Can we have ice cream, chocolate syrup, cake, cookies and any other sweets you have in the kitchens?"

"Oh course Ms. Longbottom," Kretcher said and with a crack he was gone.

"This should be good," I said. "PJ time!"

* * *

Girl talk was overall successful. I found out that Alice had liked Louis since the end of last year and that they wrote each other over the summer. (Which is a big deal because Louis never writes anyone over the summer. Lazy ass.) Alice and I got Rose to admit that she had a mini-crush on Scorpius, even though we both knew that was a blatant lie. And I gave them the full details on my snog fests with Caleb. (Well except the part about me thinking about Albus...because that would just be awkward.)

I think all of us went to bed, full on sweets and talks of boys, around the same time. But my brain couldn't sleep. All I kept thinking was how my idiot cousin asked someone else out. And the look on Rose's face was when she told me.

So I came up with a plan. It wasn't exactly a good one but it wasn't really bad either. But it was more than I ever had before.

And with this plan, Scorpius and Rose were going to be together.

Even if it's the last thing I do.

* * *

A/N: Yay new chapter! I like this chapter. What do you think of Caleb? I love him. Representing my own house! PUFF PRIDE.

Please review! I hope this gets up before the break. Happy Holidays!


	8. The Madness of Hogsmeade

The rest of the week flew by. I was so swamped with schoolwork, Quidditch and freaking out bout my date that I barely had time to think about the plan.

I found out (from Rose of course. She was sitting on her bed eating chocolate ice cream at the time and she looked like the typical girl who was upset over the boy she liked. Only Rose kept denying that she liked him) that Scorp was going with some fifth year named Melanie. When Rose told me this she didn't hold back saying that Melanie was a complete and utter twat and that she probably didn't even know how to tie her shoes she's so stupid. She also claimed that Melanie was such a big whore and that she probably has hooked up with over half the guys in school so if Scorpius wanted to get an STD and die then that was fine with her.

I decided not to point out that both of her Potter cousins, Louis and Scorpius have all hooked up with majority of the girls over fifth year. I figured that wouldn't make her happy because they were total manwhores too and one of them probably has an STD already.

She ended her entire rant about what a whore Melanie was, by claiming that she didn't even care because she didn't even like Scorpius.

Alice and I each gave her stares of disbelief, to which she avoided completely by stuffing more ice cream in her mouth.

Man that girl has it bad.

* * *

"Alice, I have nothing to wear!"

I was standing in front of my closet, in my PJ's staring at the amount of clothes in my closet and how none of them would do.

I felt like Scorpius when I walked in on him trying to get ready for the Weasley's  
party at the end of summer.

"You have more clothes than Rose and I combined, I'm sure there's something in here." Alice walked over to my closet and pulled put a pair of skinny jeans. "Wear these," she said handing them over to me. "They make your butt look good and you can wear them with your grey boots."

"Okay well I still need a shirt," I pointed out. "I don't think Scorpius would let me go in my bra. I'd rather go on my date in clothes then have Scorpius kill me."

"Hey don't be a smart ass," Alice said. "I'm trying to help you so you don't go in your PJs."

"Did I mention how beautiful you look today, Alice?" I said to her. Rose snickered from her perch on her bed (of course she's ready. I'm going on a date in 20 minutes and I'm still in my PJs. Rose is just hanging out with her cousins and she looks better than I ever will. That bitch. Just kidding. I love her.)

"Sure," Alice said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, wear this shirt," she pulled a dark red tank top out. "And since it's October you are going to be a little cold so wear this." She pulled a dark grey quarter sleeve jacket that I rarely wear and handed it over to me.

I stared at the outfit in my hands. "I sat in front of my closet for an hour trying to decide what to wear and came up with nothing, but somehow you can find am outfit in 2 minutes."

"What can I say? I'm good at outfits," Alice said shrugging. "Besides those are your best jeans and that shirt looks good in you, but you never wear it. So I figured now would be as good as ever. You need to look hot for your date." She walked back to her bed. "Besides Caleb won't know what hit him."

I smiled. "Good."

* * *

At 11, Rose, Alice and I walked down to the entrance hall. Alice was right: this shirt looked good on me and made me have cleavage, but not so much that I looked like a slag.

I didn't see Caleb so I went with Alice and Rose to where Albus and Louis were standing.

"Hey boys," I said as we walked up.

"Hey Addie," Louis said turning to face me. He took in what I was wearing (especially the cleavage) and his eyes went wide. "Why the hell are you wearing that?"

"Because I like it," I said. "And Alice picked our out for me."

Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not throwing Alice under the bus.

…Okay so maybe I am a little. But if Louis wants to kill someone for my outfit may as well be the person responsible.

Louis turned on Alice. "Why would you make her wear that? She looks like a slag!"

Alice rolled her eyes. "She has a date and she looks good. Just because she's showing off a little more skin than normal does not make her a slag Lou. She looks good and no matter what you say she isn't changing."

Louis was about to argue when Albus interrupted. "Alice is right, Lou. She looks good."

"Well of course you think that," Louis said to Albus. Albus frowned at Louis and they went into one of their silent cousin conversations, where they both knew what the other one was talking about, while everyone else just sat there confused.

I tried having a silent conversation with Scorpius one time.

It didn't work well. He just wondered why I was staring at him.

It must be a Wotter thing. Which makes me believe even more that all of the kids are drugged up to be super human.

"So have you guys seen Scorpius?" Rose asked quietly. We all turn to look at her and watch her in silence.

"Ugh, no I haven't Rose," Albus said. "He might be with Mel-"

Before Albus could finish the sentence, I elbowed him in the stomach. He glared down at me as if asking me why I did that. I tilted my head towards Rose who was now looking down at the ground, with a very sad expression on her face.. Albus instantly retracted his statement. "No, Rose, I haven't seen him."

"Oh, okay," Rose said, but she knew where Scorp was. And who he was with. And what they were probably doing (it's not hard to figure out.) And she hated it.

Because she wished it was her. Though she would never admit it.

We stood in an awkward silence for a few seconds until Caleb walked up."Hey Addie," he said, smiling. I smiled back and stared in awe at how good he looked. He was wearing a grey thermal and jeans. His hair looked like he had just gotten off of a broom and his chocolate brown eyes looked so incredibly beautiful.

"Hey Caleb," I said back, trying not to creep him out by staring. "You know everyone."

Caleb nodded. "Nice to see you Rose, Alice, Louis." He looked next to me and glared at Albus. "Potter."

Albus just nodded back. I looked at him and noticed how good he looked as well. (Why am I surrounded by attractive boys? Not that I'm complaining but it's a little strange that I'm friends with not only Albus and Louis who were both voted hottest blokes in our year, along with Scorpius (cringe), but then Caleb as well. I'm a lucky girl.) And he wasn't wearing anything amazing. Just a blue and white flannel shirt that really isn't that special or out of the ordinary. On a normal person it would be like 'Hey cool flannel' but not on Albus. No. Albus had to look like a freaking god in a regular shirt. I could really only stare at him. Apparently I was staring for a while since Rose kicked me in the butt. (It hurt really badly. I would seek revenge but I know she's hurting because Scorp is on a date so she'll live.)

I snapped out of staring at Albus and looked back at Caleb. While he looked good, he did not look as hot as Albus. Not even close.

Dammit.

"So are you ready to go?" I asked him, intertwining my fingers with his. I had no idea if this was a good idea or not but I figured maybe I would stop thinking about Albus. (It didn't).

"Yeah," Caleb said. He looked at the rest of the group. "Bye guys, good to see you."

"Now wait a second," Louis said. "Let me go over some ground rules Caleb."

I groaned. "Really Lou? Can you not do this? Please?"

"Scorp isn't here so he asked me to do it," Louis said. "Besides I'm being nice and letting you go out in that outfit. Scorpius would make you change." Louis turned his attention back to Caleb. "You will not take her to Madame Puddifoots. You will not force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. You will not try to kiss her if she doesn't want to kiss you. You will be a perfect gentleman. Understand?"

Caleb didn't back away as most guys would have. He stood his ground and looked Louis straight in the eye. "Madame Puddifoots is too pink and strange to go in anyway so I wasn't going to take her there. I want Addie to have a good time so I would make sure that whatever it is we were going to do, she wanted to do. And of course I will be a perfect gentleman. She will not pay for anything, no matter how much she argues with me about it. I like Addie, and would like for this not to be the only time we go out, so I'm going to make sure she has a good time and that she feels comfortable. I wouldn't do something to sabotage my chances of going out with her again."

I think I just swooned. That is the nicest thing a boy has ever said about me.

I squeezed Caleb's hand and smiled up at him. "Now that you've warned him, may we start our date?" I asked Louis.

Louis was about to say something when Alice pulled him back. "Go," she said. Louis looked at her in annoyance. "Louis the boy has just proven that he likes her. Besides I get the feeling Addie could defend herself if he tried anything. Let her go."

"Fine," Louis grumbled.

Alice and Rose waved goodbye while Louis stared the ground but my attention wasn't on them. It was on Albus.

He was staring at mine and Caleb's hands with a strange expression on his face. It was very similar to Rose's face earlier when we were talking about Scorpius. If I didn't know Albus as well as I did, I would be tempted to say he looked jealous. Like he thought he should be holding my hand.

Ha that reminds me of a Muggle song. It's an older song, by a guy who sounds like a girl. Justin something.

Random head singing session: That should be me, holding your hand. That should be me, making you laugh. That should be me, this is so sad. That should be me, that should be me.

It is a very good song. And I'm sure you're jealous of my singing.

I'm an awesome singer.

Anyway...

"You ready to go?" Caleb asked me, pulling me out of my head singing session.

"Yeah," I said. With one last look at the strange expression on Albus' face, we turned and headed toward Hogsmeade.

* * *

"So are you having a good time?" Caleb asked me halfway through our date. We had already gone to Zonko's, Honeyduke's and a little cafe that had just opened up.

"Yeah," I said, as Caleb intertwined his fingers in mine. We walked along High Street in silence for a few moments. "I'm having a very good time."

"Well is there anything else you want to do?" Caleb asked me.

"I could-" But before I could finish there was a scream.

"JAMES POTTER YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER ARSE!"

I turned around and saw James and Freddy standing with a group of fangirls (Dom was there too and looked really annoyed with all the fangirls) as a girl from Slytherin yelled at James.

"And hello to you too, Annalise," James said, smiling at the girl. (I swear I heard one of the fangirls sigh) "How can I help you?"

"Don't give me that shit!" Annalise yelled back. I dragged Caleb closer to the drama as the girl walked closer to James, the rest of the girls and Freddy scattering. "Just change it back!"

James smirked, a smirk that was so similar to Albus' jerk smirk. "Change what back?"

"My hair you fucking idiot!" She screamed at him. Now that she mentioned it, I noticed that her hair looked a very strange shade of red, almost Gryffindor red. "Change it back or I swear, I will make you wish you had never been born!"

"Well I see nothing wrong with your hair. Red is a good color on you," James said, stepping closer to Annalise. "But I might change it back. If you do one thing for me."

"Change. It. Back." she growled. Literally, she growled. I was scared. I was tempted to use Caleb as a body shield so that if she got angry and went on a killing spree I wouldn't die. "Now."

"Fine I will," James said. She didn't relax though. "If you go on a date with me."

Now, Annalise looked even more ready for murder. "Are you fucking kidding me Potter?!"

"No," James said and took a step closer so that he was only a couple of inches from her. He put his hand on her arm. "I know you like me. And I know you want to go out with me. So, if you want your hair changed back, go out with me. It would be fun for both of us."

Annalise looked down at his hand on her arm. "Move your hand. If you want to keep it, move it."

"You never answered my question," James said. And he moved his hand. He moved it to the small of her back and pulled her toward him. If she wasn't ready to murder him before, she definitely was now. "Go on a date with me."

James closed his eyes and lowered his mouth to hers. But before he could even get within 2 inches of her face, there was a flash of bright red light and James was thrown back.

"Want to know my fucking answer to your fucking question?!" Annalise screeched. "It's no. It will always be no because I would never go out with you in a million years. Even if Voldemort rose from the dead and said I had to date you in order to live, I would die. I hate you. Understand that, Potter? I will never, ever, ever go on a date with you because you are a complete arsehole who doesn't know how to treat people and are a complete arrogant fool who will end up alone! Back off, Potter because right now, the giant squid has a much higher chance of going on a date with me than you ever will!"

And with that, Annalise stormed off.

James was still lying on the ground, rubbing his head. "That didn't go well," he said to Freddy.

"Really?" Dom said. "I thought it went rather well."

James threw a glare in Dom's direction and walked away from the adoring fangirls that were surrounding him. Freddy and Dom caught up with him and the fangirls followed.

"Wow," Caleb said. "And I thought you and Albus fought badly."

"James is such an idiot," I said and I pulled Caleb toward the Three Broomsticks. "I'm feeling like a butterbeer how about you?"

Caleb held the door open for me. "Sounds awesome."

As we walked into the Three Broomsticks, I noticed that it wasn't as crowded as normal. It still had plenty of people, but it wasn't as jammed packed as it sometimes is.

"Addie! Caleb! Over here!"

I turned in the direction of the voice and saw Rose, Alice, Louis and Albus all sitting in one of the back booths.

"Want to go sit with them?" Caleb asked me. And I did. This was the first time since Fourth year that I hadn't spent Hogsmeade with any of them. I was having fun with Caleb, I really was, but I missed spending it with Rose and Alice too.

"You sure you don't mind?" I asked him. I wasn't really sure what date protocol was, so I didn't know if it was allowed to hang out with your friends while on a date.

"No," Caleb said with a smile. "I'll get us butterbeer and then you can go sit with  
them. I'll meet you over there."

"Thanks Caleb," I said. He really was a great guy.

I walked over to where they were all sitting and slid into the booth next to Albus. "Hey guys."

"Is Caleb going to join us?" Alice asked.

I nodded. "He's just getting us the drinks."

Alice smirked at Louis, who was seated next to her. "Told you he'd be good."

"Well he better be," Louis said. "Only the best deserve to be with Addie."

Alice rolled her eyes.

I turned to Albus and said, "Your brother was making quite a scene out there."

"What'd he do this time?" Albus asked.

"He dyed some Slytherin's hair red and then she started yelling at him," I said.

"Let me guess, he tried asking her out?" Albus asked smiling at me.

"Yep. And he also tried to kiss her," I said. "But she used a curse to throw him off and told him the Giant Squid had more of a chance of getting a date with her than he did."

Albus laughed. "That's a new low for James. It was Annalise wasn't it?"

"Yeah. What's the deal with that anyway?"

Albus shrugged. "He liked her since his first year and seems to think pissing her off will make her fall in love with him."

"Is it a Potter boy gene to do that to try to win a girl's heart?" Louis asked. Alice hit him over the head and Rose just chuckled. Albus glared at Louis and they started having one of their telepathy conversations again.

But I was confused. Who was Albus trying to win over by arguing with her? The only person who he ever continually fought with was me.

Wait...was Louis implying that Albus liked me?

Of course not, that's just crazy.

"Hey guys," Caleb said, placing our drinks on the table and sliding in next to me. He put his arm around my shoulders. "What are we talking about?"

"We were just talking about James's little scene out there," I said. "Albus said that's normal for James to do to her."

"Really? That's strange," Caleb said looking at Albus. "It seemed like he liked her. Why would he piss off someone he likes on purpose? I mean that's not going to make her like him."

Albus just glared at Caleb as if he insulted him. "Maybe he figures that if he keeps after her, then no other blokes would be after her. And up until this year he was right."

"Oh no," Rose said from the other side of the table. We all looked at her and saw her staring at the door. I looked over and saw Scorpius and a girl I assumed was Melanie. "Merlin, now they're going to come and ruin our perfectly good afternoon."

"Hey guys," Scorp said as he approached us. Rose brightened a little when she saw that Melanie was nowhere in sight. "Can I join you?"

"Yeah of course Scorp," Rose said with a smile. However her smile quickly deteriorated.

"Scorpius why'd you leave me?!" Said an annoyingly high-pitched voice. A petite brunette slid into the booth beside Scorpius and snuggled up to him.

I think it's safe to say he was cringing.

Rose was glaring daggers at the girl, who was too dumb to even notice.

Yeah Rose, you keep denying that you don't like him. Because it totally doesn't look like you want to claw Melanie's eyes out right now.

"Well Scorp who is this," Louis pondered on the next word. "High pitched girl you're with?"

"Everyone this is Melanie," Scorpius said, almost as if he was ashamed of it.

"Hi!" She squeaked. Like she actually squeaked. "I'm Melanie. I'm in Ravenclaw and am in fifth year."

Oh Merlin, I've only spent a minute with the girl and I was annoyed with her. Poor Scorp must have been going out of his mind. (Although he wasn't paying attention to her. He was watching Rose, who was staring at her drink with a very pissed off expression. She's so jealous. And totally oblivious since she hasn't noticed Scorp's puppy eyes on her.)

"And how exactly did you end up here?" Alice asked.

"Oh!" Melanie said. "Well one day, my mum made this big meal for my dad, she really wanted another kid-"

"Not like that," Alice said. She seemed very annoyed and I heard Louis mumble something that sounded like "Dumb bint" but Alice elbowed him in the stomach. "I meant on a date with Scorpius."

"Oh duh!" Melanie said, doing that ridiculous airhead giggle. I caught Scorpius' eye and tried to telepathically ask him if he was insane to ask this girl out. He HATES airheads. Which is why he's in love with Rose. "Why would you want to know how I was conceived, I'm so dumb sometimes!"

"I'll bet," I heard Albus mutter. I held back a laugh and looked at him and saw he was smiling too. I looked into his eyes, filled with laughter and suddenly Caleb's arm felt heavy around my shoulders. It felt wrong.

"Aww you two are so cute!" Melanie squalled. I looked away from Albus and saw her looking at me with an adoring expression on her face. "God, Addie you're so lucky to have a boyfriend like Albus." I'm sure that Caleb, Albus and I all looked at her like she was the stupidest person on the planet (I know I did.) Caleb pulled his arm back from my shoulders and awkwardly placed it on the table.

"Actually Melanie-" I tried to say but she cut me off.

"Just think Scorpo," Melanie said. Louis cracked up at the nickname, only to receive a "shush!" from Alice although she was smiling too. "That could be us one day. We could be just as in love as Albus and Addie are."

"Well then you'll be nowhere," I said to her. "Because Albus and I aren't together. In fact," I grabbed Caleb's hand from the table. "I'm on a date with Caleb here."

"Really?" Melanie asked, clearly disappointed.

"Really," Caleb said and he put his hand around my waist, pulling me close to  
him. I snuggled into his chest, avoiding the glare I was getting from Scorpius. "Potter here has never been close to dating Addie, and as far as I'm concerned he never will." Caleb kissed my head. "I like Addie far too much for that."

"Yeah but does she like you?" Albus asked Caleb. "Because for all we know she's using you to make me jealous because she has secret feelings for me. And you're the poor fool who came into her plan."

"You wish Potter," Caleb said. I looked around to see if anyone was going to get involved but I saw Rose stabbing the table with her straw and Scorpius watching her, almost in awe. Louis, Alice and Melanie were all watching us, Melanie with an excited look and Louis and Alice smirking, like they knew something I didn't. "It probably just hurts your ego too much to realize that she probably does hate you, just as she says. You can't handle having someone bruise your ego, especially her. So much like your brother and his little crush."

Oh God was Caleb saying that Albus had a crush on me?

It's bad when even your date thinks that.

I'm losing faith in the human population.

"Yeah well maybe she just pitied you," Albus said, tightening his jaw. "Maybe she felt bad that this lowly little Hufflepuff got no attention and decided to go on a pity date with him. After all he's liked her since fourth year but never had the guts to talk to her-"

"That's enough!" I said interrupting Albus. I had no doubt in my mind that he was going to continue arguing with Caleb over this and it was starting to piss me off. Caleb was glaring at Albus, looking more pissed than I ever imagined he could be. "Caleb would you pay for our drinks so we could get back to our date?" Caleb nodded and with one last glare at Albus, he got off the bench. I followed after him and turned to face Albus, letting my frustration take over my face. "You. Come with me."

Albus got out of the booth and followed my lead to a corner of the room no one was in.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice level.

"What am I doing?" Albus asked leaning against the wall behind him. "You're boyfriend was being the jerk not me."

"You attacked him!" I said, trying very hard not to yell. "You told him that this was just a pity date and that I didn't like him! How did you think he would react?"

"I don't know but I figured that Scorp wasn't enjoying you two practically getting it on right in front of him!" Albus said. "Besides why do you care what I said to him?"

"Because he's my date!" I said back, nearly yelling. "And everything you said, about how this was a pity date, how I didn't like him was a complete lie!"

This caught Albus' attention. Suddenly he wasn't mad anymore, but had a look similar to the one he had on this morning when he saw Caleb and I holding hands.

"So you do?" He asked. "You do like him?"

"Yes!" I said. I thought back on our day and all my anger at Albus was gone as I broke out into a grin. "Yeah, I really do."

"Oh," was all Albus said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets looking pissed. "Well then have fun on the rest of your date with your new boyfriend." Albus seemed strangely hurt.

"Why does it matter to you if I do like him?" I asked.

"It doesn't," he said. "I just think you could do a lot better."

"With who?" I asked him. "There's not exactly a huge line of boys trying to date me."

He looked like he was about to say something else, like there was a person that I could be with, but held it back. "Whatever Addie. Date who you want to date. It's not like it's my business right?"

He looked just as he did earlier, a little hurt, a little pissed and even a little jealous. And I don't know why, but I had this overwhelming urge to kiss him, to finish what we never started in the library.

Apparently my silence wasn't the answer he wanted. He pushed past me and went back to the booth and sat down, looking defeated. Louis said something to him, something I couldn't hear and received only a glare from Albus. I looked over at Caleb who was now paying for our drinks and back at Albus.

There was no contest. Albus was hotter. And I somehow got butterflies looking at Albus and not with Caleb.

"Hey," I said, when Caleb walked up to me.

"Hey you ready to go?" He asked as he grabbed my hand. Before I could respond the door burst open and a voice said, "Albus!"

I looked over and saw Erica Ericson, now walking toward the table I was just at, sliding into my spot (she received more glares than Melanie did. That's an accomplishment.) She started talking to Albus, pressing up against him and for once, Albus didn't push her away. He just sat there staring at the table with the same look in his face.

"Yeah," I said, taking my eyes off the scene, ignoring the anger that was rising up inside me. "Let's go."

We left the pub and started walking on High Street, back towards the castle. We did small talk, trying to avoid the topic of Albus, and when that failed we walked in silence. However, Albus never left my mind.

"I had a good time today," Caleb said when we reached the entrance hall.

I smiled at him. "I did too."

"So maybe you would want to do this again sometime?" He said. "Only without the arguing with Albus of course."

At the mention of Albus, my mind filled with our bicker spat (it was NOT a fight. If it were a fight that would mean someone would lose the bet. And I think I would. So it wasn't a fight) and how his face fell when I told him I liked Caleb. Why would that happen? Why would he be...jealous? Did he like me?

More importantly, why did I care?

"Yeah," I said to Caleb, only half listening to what he said. "I would like that."

Stop thinking about Albus. He probably is gay and has a crush on Caleb and is upset that you're on a date with him because Caleb rejected him.

...Okay maybe not.

I saw Caleb smiling down at me and even though he looked so good, all I could think of was Albus. So I pulled Caleb closer to me and pressed my lips to his, hoping Albus would leave my mind.

He didn't.

Damn him.

* * *

A/N: Yay new chapter! I have mixed feelings on this chapter, I like some parts of it and I hate others. I tried putting a lot of Alice and Louis, which was easy because they are so fun to write! Same with Scorpius and Rose, which this chapter was greatly lacking.

So what are your thoughts on Caleb? And on James' love interest? (Thank you AlbusPotter12345678912345678 9 for suggesting a love interest)

Let me know your favorite quote, line, part, character, etc. Really anything. you guys keep me writing!

Okay so please review! :D (If you do I'll be more tempted to write faster!)


	9. The Madness of my Alter Ego Candi

I scanned the library for him. He had to be in here he was always in here. When I didn't see him, I just walked toward the back of the library. Knowing him, he was probably at the very back.

I knew he had to be in here. He was always studying. He was like the male version of Rose, which is why he was perfect.

When I got to the back I didn't see him. But then a suddenly, I saw his head of dark brown, nearly black hair. I ram over to him and slammed my bag onto the table. He looked up, annoyed.

"Hi Ryan!" I said to him, as I sat down.

"Addie," he said. "How can I help you?"

"Now Ryan," I said, copying his serious tone. "Is that anyway to greet your amazing, beautiful and wonderful cousin?" Ryan's serious façade broke and he let out an easy grin. "There's the Ryan Greengrass I know and love."

Ryan Greengrass was Astoria's brother's son. He was a year a head of Scorpius and I and in Ravenclaw. I loved him. He was tied for my favorite cousin with Scorpius. They're my only cousins, so I can't pick a favorite.

"And here is the amazing Addie Malfoy I know and love," he said. "And though I love her, she tends to only talk to me when she needs something."

I played mock hurt. "Ryan, I am hurt. How could you think that?" Ryan raised his eyebrows, not believing a word I said. I dropped the act. "Well you're in Ravenclaw for a reason. I need you're help."

"With what?" Ryan said, setting down his quill.

"I need you to flirt with Rose." Ryan opened his mouth to object but I stopped him. "Just flirt with her, take her on a date anything to make Scorpius jealous and finally grow the guts to ask her out."

"Well as much as I would love to see Scorpius and Rose finally get together," Ryan said. "But I think we both know that I can't do this."

"No Ryan, you're perfect for it!" I begged. I needed him to agree. If he didn't agree then the entire plan would go back to square one. "Without you there's no way they'll ever be together and have adorable little babies together."

"As much as I would hate for that not to happen," Ryan said. "Addie we both know why I'm the wrong person." I gave him a blank look, acting like I didn't know. "Addie," he said looking around. "I'm gay."

I knew that. I was the only person who knew, since he came out this summer to me.

"That's why you're perfect!" I exclaimed. I received glares from people near us. "You can flirt with her, you can woe her but you won't fall for her! Scorpius will get jealous but it won't matter because you won't even be falling for her because you like boys!"

"I can't do it," he said, shaking his head. "I don't even know how to woe a girl."

I gave him a look of disbelief. " Between your fourth and your sixth year you had at least 20 girlfriends. I think you can get one more."

Ryan seemed to be thinking of more reasons as to why he couldn't do it. "But Scorpius won't believe it."

"And why wouldn't he?" I said. "Unless you told him your secret then there's no way that he would know."

"Ugh..." Ryan said thinking.

"Please Ryan?" I said giving him the puppy dog eyes. Pretty, pretty please?"

"Shit not the puppy dog eyes," Ryan said. He tried avoiding my eyes.

"Please Ryan?"

"Ugh...no...fine," Ryan said in defeat.

"Yes!" I yelled and pumped my fist in triumph. This made me receive even more glares and people even got up and left.

Whatever. Clearly their gay cousin had never agreed to help make their other cousin jealous.

Ryan put his face in his hands. "I can't believe I just agreed to that."

I launched myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck and sitting on his lap. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Ryan put his arms around my waist to hug me back. "What if Scorpius tries to beat me up?" He snuggled into my hair as if it could be used as a protection shied from Scorp. (It probably could too. I have about 50 billion pounds of hair.)

"He won't!" I said. "Thank you so much Ryan!"

"Um Addie?" Said a voice from behind us.

I let go of Ryan and turned on his lap, and saw Caleb standing there. He had an angry and jealous look on his face. Which I didn't understand.

But then I realized how bad this looked. To me, I was just sitting on my gay cousins lap and hugging him because he agreed to help me. But what Caleb saw was very different. He saw his girlfriend sitting on some guys lap and hugging him as if her life depended on it.

Maybe the look on his face was understandable.

I got up and went to greet my boyfriend with a kiss. "Hi."

"Hi," Caleb said back.

"I have someone I want you to meet," I said and brought him over to where Ryan was sitting. "Caleb, this is my wonderful cousin Ryan Greengrass."

Caleb seemed to relax when I said cousin, probably relieved that I wasn't cheating on him (which is dumb...I could barely get Caleb to like me how could I possibly get another one to?) He stuck his hand out to shake Ryan's. "Caleb Adams."

"So your the boyfriend," Ryan said as he shook Caleb's hand. "I'm surprised Scorpius let you date her. Normally he won't even let boys within a five foot radius of Addie."

Caleb smiled and slipped an arm around my waist. "Yeah, well, I guess he approves."

I put a fake smile on my face, ignoring the huge lie Caleb told. But it's not Caleb's fault, he didn't know that Scorpius absolutely positively did not approve.

When I told Scorpius that Caleb was my boyfriend, he flipped. We were in the Common Room and he scared a bunch of youngins by yelling at me, threatening to beat Caleb up, breaking a vase and throwing a chair (he denies he has anger management issues.) Rose managed to calm him down, after failed attempts by Louis and Albus, and dragged him down to the lake. (She grabbed his hand and pulled him! It was really exciting because she never does that! *Sigh* they're so getting married.) Once at the lake, Scorpius took out his anger and frustrations by punching a tree until it died while Rose read on a nearby rock. Once Scorpius killed the tree (not actually but the tree wasn't in good shape) he sat next to Rose on the rock and she used a spell to get all the splinters out. Then they sat there, talking for a while and once Rose was absolutely sure that Scorpius was going to go on a killing spree, did she let him come back up to the castle. That night at dinner, Scorpius sat next to Rose and when Caleb came over, he even made small talk with him. This made him receive a smile and pat on the hand from Rose. It was really cute.

Ryan, knowing Scorpius just as well as I did, didn't believe that Scorpius was okay with me having a boyfriend. "Well that's good. Do you mind if I keep your girlfriend until dinner, Caleb?"

"Nope, she's all yours," Caleb said as he turned to me. "See you at dinner?"

"I don't know, I may have a date," I said teasingly. I kissed him. "Bye."

"Bye," Caleb said and as soon as he was out of our section, I sat back down.

"Ads, I must say that you have one nice looking boyfriend there," Ryan said. I laughed at the comment, thinking about how over the summer we would go boy hunting together and he had a lot of trouble saying he found boys attractive. "But there's no way in hell that Scorpius was okay with it."

"He wasn't," I said. "He broke yelled at me, threatened to beat him up, broke a vase, kicked a chair and nearly killed a tree. Rose was the only person who could calm him down."

"Good ol' Rose. Only she can manage Scorpius' temper," Ryan said. "Although she has quite a temper on her too."

"Yeah, but I think that's why she can handle Scorpius," I said. "Her father is Ron Weasley, practically king of having a temper. In my opinion, it's just more proof that they should be together."

"Makes sense. Now speaking of tempers," Ryan said leaning toward me. "I'm surprised that Caleb is your boyfriend."

"How does that relate to tempers in anyway?" I asked confused.

"Because I always thought that you and that boy over there would get together," he said nodding behind me. I turned around and saw Albus working at a table a little ways away from us.

And damn did he look good.

I tried to act like I didn't find him attractive and turned back to Ryan. "Albus? No. Not happening. Ever."

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yes really!" I said, maybe a little too defensively.

"Well someone is a little defensive," Ryan said. Merlin he's annoying. He's no longer tied for first favorite cousin. He's getting bumped down to second aka LAST. Ha. Take that Ryan. "Addie, it's okay to have feelings for the bloke."

"I do not have feelings for Albus!" I said, becoming greatly annoyed with him. "He's the rudest, most arrogant, annoying, mean and dumb jackarse in this entire school!"

"You forgot attractive," Ryan said nonchalantly.

"Yes! He's the most attractive, rudest- Hey!" I said glaring at Ryan. "He's not that attractive."

Ryan raised one eyebrow. "Really Addie? Look at him."

I looked back at Albus and had to agree with Ryan. But he couldn't know that. "I've seen better."

"Addie, you forgot that I spent the entire summer boy scoping with you," he said. "I know when you find a boy attractive."

"You're dumb," I said.

"And you're a liar," Ryan said simply. "I hate to break it to you but Albus is a lot more attractive then your boyfriend. And you know it."

I was tempted to argue with him. To tell him that he must be blind if he thinks that Albus is hotter than Caleb. But I couldn't. Because he was right.

Ryan chuckled. "From the look on your face I'm going to assume you agree with me." I didn't say anything. He got up and started packing his stuff. "When you break Caleb's heart because you realize what everyone is saying about how you and Albus feel about each other is true, let me know. Maybe he'll switch teams." I laughed and watched as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "I'll get started on the plan tomorrow."

I smiled. "Thanks Ryan."

"Anything for you babe," Ryan said, winking at me.

He was perfect for the plan.

I gathered up my stuff and put it all into my bag and got up to leave. However, when I turned around I ran right into someone, knocking their book and paper out of their hands and hitting my head against their chest. (A very toned chest...this boy clearly works out.)

"Sorry!" I said and bent down to pick everything up. I handed it back to them.

"It's fine," Albus said.

Of course I ran into Albus. Of. Fucking. Course.

"Hey," I said to him.

"Hey," he said back. "Haven't seen you too much lately."

"Uh, yeah I've been busy," I lied. In truth I was avoiding him. I'm not sure why but I think it has to do with the fact that while we were bickering (not arguing!) I wanted to kiss him. Which wasn't a good feeling to have when you're dating someone else.

"Figured," Albus said. "First few days with the nee boyfriend are always time consuming."

"Yep," I said. "It's strange having a boyfriend."

"I'm sure," Albus said, seemingly annoyed. "Especially one as awesome as Caleb."

I glared at his sarcastic tone. "What's with you Potter?"

"Nothing," he said. "I'm fine."

"Good," I said. "I mean considering the fact that you and Ericson were looking rather cozy at the Three Broomsticks, I would hate for her boyfriend to be in a bad mood."

"She's not my girlfriend," Albus said. I ignored the wave of happiness that coursed through my body.

"Well you sure send her mixed messages," I said back.

Albus put on his jerk smirk. "Why? You jealous that she was close to me and you weren't?" Albus took a step closer to me.

Dammit I didn't know so many butterflies could be in my stomach.

"You wish," I said. "I have a great boyfriend who is so much better than you."

"Really?" Albus said. "Pretty sure that you and that Hufflepuff have zero sexual tension."

"And you would know all about sexual tension wouldn't you?" I asked Albus. For the heck of it, I grabbed his arm and pulled him to a corner. I grabbed his tie and started playing with it. "I mean Albus Potter can have sexual tension with anyone right?"

"Yeah," he said, his eyes never leaving mine. "There's only one that's constant though."

"The lucky girl," I said and rubbed his arms. I have no idea where any of this is coming from. It must be my slutty alter ego Candi. I ran my hand down his muscular arms and grabbed his hand and lead it to my waist. "The sexual tension must be amazing. Just imagine the passion that kiss would have."

"Oh I have," Albus said. He brought his other arm around my waist and picked me up and turned us so that now I was the one with my back against the bookshelf and he was the one in control if whatever game we were playing. "But this girl has a boyfriend. And I don't think she likes him that much."

I rubbed my hands against his chest. "Really? What makes you think that?" I opened the first button on his shirt. Ooh nice move Candi, you slut you.

"Because she's here with me and not with her boyfriend."

I looked up and met his eyes. This was the game changer. This is where I could either go with my hormones and kiss him as they were screaming at me to do, ending the game by both of us winning. Or I could do what Candi was telling me to do, which was to win this game.

And I liked winning.

I put one of my hands on the side of his face, the other one resting right on his belt. I pushed myself up onto my tiptoes and kissed his neck. I worked my way around his neck until I reached his ear. Albus' grip on my waist tightened and he pulled me as close to him as possible.

I kissed his earlobe. A small moan came from his lips. I smirked the Malfoy smirk. "Enjoying this aren't you? Well here's a tip," I whispered in his ear. "Sexual tension is best when it's left unresolved. Sorry, sucker. But my boyfriend is waiting for me."

And with that I let go of him, pushed him off me, and walked out of the library. I didn't look back once.

I should've been a Slytherin.

* * *

The next week was the first Quidditch game of the season. It was Hufflepuff against Ravenclaw and as the girlfriend of the Hufflepuff keeper, I was obligated to go.

"No, no, no, no!" Rose said from across from me at breakfast that morning. "For the one hundredth time no!"

Unfortunately Rose wasn't.

"Please?" I said, pulling the sleeves of Caleb's old Hufflepuff jacket back. "Please come with me so that I won't be alone."

"Malfoy I doubt she's going to go," Albus said rudely. He hadn't been very nice to me since our...exchange in the library.

"Please Rosie, please I'll do anythi-"

"Hey Rose," my wonderful cousin came over, much to the annoyance of my other cousin. Scorpius glared at Ryan. For the past few days, Ryan had been doing an excellent job of flirting with Rose and Scorpius was definitely noticing. "You going to the game?"

"No she's not," Scorpius said, growling. I don't really like being next to him when he's growling. It's scary.

"Yeah mate not obvious at all that you like her," Louis mumbled under his breath. Alice giggled and he slung his arm around her shoulders. I think Alice just became a tomato.

"Actually," Rose said, glaring at Scorpius. "I think I will go."

"Good," Ryan said, with a cool smile. "You better be rooting for Ravenclaw. We're the best even though my idiot cousin seems to think otherwise." He eyed my sweatshirt and I could tell he was getting an idea. He took off his Ravenclaw sweatshirt and gave it to Rose. "Here, wear this to show your loyalty."

Rose smiled. "Okay."

"I'll save you and Addie seats in the middle ground," Ryan said. He walked away and Rose slipped on his jacket with a smile.

"Are you fucking kidding me Rose?" Scorpius said. "My fucking cousin?"

Rose glared at him. "There's nothing going on. He just gave me his jacket to wear to the game."

"Yeah and pretty soon he'll be giving you his shirts to wear after you've fucked!" Scorpius yelled. "My cousin is one of the biggest players at this school! He's probably hooked up with majority if the girls in his year!"

Oh. Well. Ryan was doing his job very, very well since Scorpius is very, very jealous.

"Oh is that where you learned how to play girls?" Rose yelled back. "Besides don't even talk to me about my choices. Must I remind you of your date last week? She's the biggest slag in the entire school! But then again you probably just wanted to get some anyway so it didn't matter!"

"Yeah well at least I'm not being stupid!" Scorpius said. "There's only one reason that Ryan would be doing this and that's because he wants to get in your pants! There's no way in hell he actually likes you!"

Rose's face fell. She looked like she was about to cry. "Are you saying it's impossible for him to like me? That the only reason he, or anyone could like me is to get into my pants?"

Scorpius looked taken aback. "No that's not at all what-"

"Well Scorpius, it's good to see that you think I'm so unbearable that no guy could ever like me. It's good to know that I don't need to worry about you ever having feelings for me beyond friendship." Rose had tears in her eyes. "Why do you even care what I do anyway? Since all I ever am and will be to you is a friend, I think there's nothing wrong with me trying to find someone to be with." She stood up. "I'm sorry I'm so intolerable Scorpius. I'll leave so you won't be in my presence any longer."

Rose rushed out of the Great Hall, but not before I saw a tear run down her face.

Scorpius put his head in his hands. "That's not what I meant," he whispered, more to himself then anyone else.

Alice rubbed his back soothingly. "We know. Cleary you fancy her so you would be jealous when someone, your own cousin flirting with her."

"Yeah and apparently you turn into an asshole," Louis bit the meat off his fork. "I would've thought you learned from Al that pissing a girl off doesn't make her fall for you."

Okay, seriously who is this girl Albus can't seem to win over because he's a douche?

From all the information I've gathered it seems like it's me but that's dumb. Why would he like me?

We have sexual tension. That's it. Not like Rose and Scorpius where they have EXTREME amounts of sexually tension and are madly in love.

Al glared at Louis. "Girls are bitches anyway. Always teasing, even when they shouldn't be."

Well now this is a tad awkward. He seems to think the girl in the library was me. But it wasn't. It was Candi. She's a whore.

"Alice why don't we check on Rose?" I said and got up. I looked at Scorpius, who still had his head in his hands, probably mentally beating himself up for being an idiot. I hugged him from behind, looping my arms around his neck and pressing my chest to his back (not in a weird way, we're cousins for Merlin's sake!) "She'll be okay."

"I'm such an idiot," he said into his hands.

I kissed his head. "You wouldn't be the Scorpius I love if you weren't."

Alice and I left the great hall in search of Rose.

"Scorpius is such an idiot," Alice said as we headed up the stairs.

"He was pissed off and jealous," I said. "Not a good combination for Scorp."

"He still didn't need to say that," Alice said.

"He always says dumb stuff," I said as we approach the Common Room. "Rose knows that and shouldn't have taken it to heart."

"The boy she's been in love with since first year said the only reason a boy would like her was so he could get into her pants." Alice raised her eyebrows at me. "I'm pretty sure anyone would react that way."

"Scorpius is such an idiot," I murmured.

"Hey wait," Alice said and pulled me to the side corridor. "What's up you and Al? You guys haven't been on the best terms lately."

"Nothing's going on," I said. But Alice gave me The Mum Look.

The Mum Look was scary. It made you tell the truth. Her kids (hopefully with Louis) won't get away with anything.

"Ugh..." I said. "Well...we were talking in a corner of the library about sexual tension and my slutty alter ego Candi arrived and I kissed his neck and his earlobe-well I didn't, that was Candi-and then he seemed like he really liked it and then I left. Candi is a bitch as well as a whore."

Alice shook her head. "Well that would explain it," she said quietly. But then she addressed me, in full mum mode. "Addie you can't play with people's feelings. I don't care if it was you or Candi or whoever that's not okay. Besides you have a boyfriend and if Caleb saw that then that would cause problems. Understand?"

"Yes," I said my head down. Thanks Candi. You being a bitch and slut are getting me into trouble. When I didn't do anything. "So...what's going on you and Louis?"

Alice blushed. "Don't change the subject," she said. "We should go find Rose and make sure she's okay."

"Whatever you say Mrs. Weasley," I said, linking my arms with hers and smirking.

"Merlin it's creepy how you and Scorpius have the same smirk," Alice said as we entered the Common Room and headed up to the dorms.

"It's not creepy," I said. "It's genetics."

Alice opened the door to our room and we saw Rose lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Your cousin is a jerk Ads," she said quietly. Alice and I sat on her bed and she pushed herself into a sitting position. She pulled Ryan's jacket tighter around her small frame.

"I know," I said. "But he didn't mean it."

"Scorp was in a strange mood," Alice said. "There's no way he thinks that Rose."

Rose nodded. "He was just being over protective. He's a good friend." She looked down at the word friend. "He's going to make some girl very happy someday," she said sadly.

Merlin Rose, for claiming you don't like the bloke you are doing a terrible job of showing it.

Rose wiped her tears away. "Is Ryan really just trying to get into my pants?"

"No," I said, because he wasn't. I'm pretty sure getting in her pants was the last thing he wanted. He'd probably try to get into Scott Miller, the creepy kid in seventh year Slytherin's pants before Rose's. You know. Cause he's gay and all. "I think he's just trying to become friends with you and Scorpius sees it the other way and is jealous."

"Why would Scorpius be jealous?" Rose asked.

Alice laughed. "Rose the fact that you're supposed to be the brightest witch of our age and you don't understand why Scorpius is jealous makes me laugh."

"Why? Why is that funny?" Rose asked. Wow she really did have no idea.

"Rosie that boy is crazy about you," Alice said. "He always has been. You can tell just by the way he looks at you."

Rose thought about this for a moment. She really seemed to be taking all of this in and Alice and I looked hopefully at each other.

Maybe she would finally figure out how she feels. Maybe she'll run down to the Great Hall and jump on Scorpius, kissing him and then they'd be together. And all would be well because my two best friends who have so obviously liked each other would finally be letting go of all their sexual tension and built up love for each other. There would be no more tears or random people coming in to ruin them. Rose would have Scorpius and Scorpius would have Rose.

They'd finally be happy.

Suddenly Rose smiled a small smile and shook her head. "No he's not Alice. I'm not the usual girl he goes for. He has his type and I have mine and we don't fit the molds for each other. We wouldn't work together."

"That's not true," I said but before I could continue Rose interrupted me.

"Trust me. We don't like each other and even if we did..." Rose trailed off before snapping back into reality. "But we don't. Now I'll go get cleaned up and then we'll go to the game, okay?"

I nodded as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

"That girl is so dumb," Alice said.

I just nodded in agreement. I only hoped that Ryan would do his job so well that Scorpius got super jealous and tell Rose exactly how he feels.

Because Rose seemed to be finding any and every excuse not to admit how she feels for Scorpius.

And it was breaking my heart almost as much as it was breaking hers.

* * *

A/N: Yay new chapter! and at a pretty quick update too! And I've already started writing the next chapter! Here's a little hint about what will be in it...it's Halloween time and there's a huge party. And all of the Addie/Al, Rose/Scorpius, and Louis/Alice shippers will be very happy!

So what did you think? I rather like this chapter. The sexual tension scene in the library with Al and Addie was a lot of fun to write. And Ryan is amazing :)

So please review! tell me your favorite part, your least favorite part, your favorite quote, your favorite couple, anything really.

You can even tell me how you think I should go with this story. I'm always open for suggestions :)

REVIEW PLEASE

Wow long author's note. :D


	10. The Madness of Halloween

"So who's going to the Halloween party tomorrow?" Louis asked.

Louis, Alice, Scorpius, Caleb and I were all sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room on the Friday before Halloween. Rose and Al were off talking about homework and wouldn't join us until they were done.

"I am," Scorpius said.

"Wow, Mr. Prefect going to a party! That's not setting an example for the youngins," Louis teased.

Alice rolled her eyes from her spot on the arm of the chair Louis was in. "I'm going to."

"Really?" Louis said. He looped an arm around her waist and pulled her so that she was sitting in his lap. "Well, Miss Alice, I was wondering if you could do something for me?"

"And what would that be?" Alice asked as she made herself comfortable in Louis' lap.

If only Scorpius and Rose were as up front with their feelings as Louis and Alice were.

"Be my date?" Louis whispered in her ear.

Alice's eyes went wide and her cheeks became a rose color. "Okay."

"Yes!" Louis said, fist pumping, which caused Alice to giggle.

"Hey what's going on here?" Albus asked as he and Rose approached our group. Rose took the armchair as far away from Scorpius, which only left one seat for Albus.

Which happened to be on the love seat where Caleb and I were.

Awesome.

"Alice agreed to be my date to the Halloween party," Louis said.

"Really? That's great," Rose said.

"Yeah," Louis said. "Al, Scorpius that's how you ask a girl out. You don't do all the dumb things you two do."

"I don't think Scorpius has a problem in that department," Rose said quietly but you could still hear the anger in her voice.

"Actually I do," Scorpius said. "I can't tell the girl I really care about how I feel. I always get tongue tied and say the wrong thing."

"Mate, at least your better than Al," Louis said. "You don't piss the girl off every time you get the chance."

"Well it doesn't matter does it?" Al said. "I don't need a date when the girl I want to go with I can't go with."

I tried to ignore the overwhelming pain that had entered my body. Albus wanted to go to the Halloween party with some girl. Who?

"Who did you want to go with?" I asked him. He looked at me and his eyes seemed to say something I couldn't read.

I felt Caleb's arms come around my waist and pull me closer to him. The look on Albus' face changed.

"It doesn't matter," he said and looked away from Caleb and I. "I'm just going to go alone. Maybe she'll come around and finally see me as more then...what she sees me as."

"Best of luck to you, man," Caleb said. Albus looked over at us again and suddenly the love seat felt to small. "Maybe when she comes around then you two can double date with Addie and I."

The look on Albus' face told me that that was probably the last thing he would ever want to do.

"That would be an awkward double date..." Louis said quietly (well he thought it was quiet. It wasn't.) When everyone turned to look at him, he tried to make an excuse. "Only because...ugh..."

"Only because Albus and Addie would probably start fighting," Alice said. "That's always a little awkward."

Louis pulled Alice closer to him and whispered something in her ear. He then laced his fingers with hers.

"What about you, Scorpius? Got a date?" Caleb asked. Rose perked up and stared at Scorpius.

Scorpius stared right back. "Nope. There's only one girl I want to go with. But she currently thinks I'm a jerk, so that's not happening."

"Well I'm sure she has good reason," Rose said, standing up. "I'm going to head to bed now."

"I'll go check on her, Alice," I said. "You can stay here."

Alice mouthed a thank you and relaxed into Louis. Before heading up the stairs to the dorms, I looked back at my friends. Alice and Louis looked so happy and like they had been dating for years. Scorpius was staring into the fire, probably beating himself up over screwing things up with Rose again.

I went up to our dorm to see Rose in her PJs cleaning the room and muttering angrily to herself.

Well it seems I came up here just in time.

Especially since it was my side of the room she was cleaning. (I'm not a slob! Everything is an organized mess!)

"Rose," I said stepping into the room as Rose grabbed a magazine out of the throw away pile. Though I never got around to throwing away the stuff in the throw away pile. "Put the magazine down and retreat to your bed."

She mumbled something that sounded very similar to "My best friend is a pig." However, I let it slide and went and sat on her bed with her.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"What's up?!" Rose said back. "What's up is that your cousin is a complete and total idiot! And who the hell is this girl he's talking about screwing up his chances with because he's a jerk? Lately he's only been a jerk to me!"

I decided it might be a futile attempt to tell her that girl was her. "Rose you need to calm down. Scorpius means well."

"Scorpius means well?!" Is she just in a parrot mood today? Why is she repeating everything I say? "He shouldn't even be going to that party! He's a Prefect! He's supposed to report this kind of thing to the teachers!"

"But you're going to the party," I pointed out. "And you're a Prefect."

"Well I'm thinking of not going," Rose said curtly. "I should tell McGonagall and get Scorpius and all them into trouble. That would show Scorpius."

"Or," I said because I didn't like the idea of my best friend becoming the most hated girl in school. James and Fred's Halloween Party was always epic, and has only improved since they started it in their third year (yeah they started throwing the biggest party of the year when they were 13. Total Respect.) And they never allowed any of us in until last year, saying that Fifth Years should have something to look forward to. Rose couldn't ruin that. "You could go to the party and relax. Dance, flirt with boys, maybe even drink a little." Rose frowned. "Please Rose? At least try to have fun."

"Fine," Rose said.

"Thank you," I said. But something was nagging me. "So...who's this girl that everyone keeps talking about? The one Albus is interested but keeps messing up because he keeps pissing her off?"

I push down the amounts of hope inside me as I wait for Rose's answer.

"Oh," Rose said. "It's some Slytherin girl. I've never really met her."

Gee Addie don't act so disappointed.

That must be Candi. She's always trying to cause drama.

"Huh," I said. "Well him and James sure are similar aren't they?"

"Yep," Rose said. "Now I actually am tired and would like to go to bed now. Night Addie."

"Night Rose," I said and headed to the bathroom.

But I didn't want to go. All I wanted to do was find out more about this girl Albus liked.

I didn't even get a name. Or a letter in her name. I have nothing.

I look up in the mirror and hate the reflection looking back at me.

It's the one I never want to see.

I tried to fake a smile, hoping maybe the sadness would leave my face.

But it wouldn't go away.

I stared at my reflection and tried pushing all the dark feelings away.

I succeeded eventually, but not before I heard a voice echo through my head.

"You're not good enough for anyone."

I left the bathroom as fast as possible.

* * *

"Addie come on!" Rose yelled through the bathroom door. "The boys are waiting!"

"One second!" I said, adjusting my costume.

"You said that 20 minutes ago!"

Well someone's in a snappy mood.

I adjusted my wings looked at my costume. I was going as a fairy. My dress was a light green and sparkly. I had sparkles all over my costume as well.

"ADDIE. GET OUT OR WE ARE LEAVING WITHOUT YOU!" Rose yelled, sounding like a mother. Her and Scorp's kids won't be able to do anything with her around. Thank Merlin Scorpius would be a cool parent.

"I'm here!" I said. "Calm down."

"About time," Rose said. "Alice was about to go in that bathroom and pull you out by your hair. She wants to see Louis."

"No!" Alice said, adjusting her costume. I wasn't exactly sure what she was. "Rose you were going to pull her out by her hair because you want Scorp to see you!"

"That's a lie!" Rose said. "Why would I care about Scorpius seeing me?"

"Because you're dressed very differently than usual! You have practically everything on display!" Alice said, gesturing to Rose's chestal area. "And could that dress be any shorter?"

I took a moment to take her outfit in.

She looked like a total slag. It's like she's been taking lessons from Candi or something. I think she was supposed to be a cat.

"Rose what are you wearing?!" I said. Yes. It was my turn to be the mother of the group. "You look like a whore!"

"I do not!" She yelled at me.

"Yes you do!" Alice yelled back. "You're only dressed like that because you want to show Scorpius what he can't have!"

"And why would I do that?!" Rose yelled, turning on Alice.

"Because you're absolutely in love with the bloke!" Alice yelled. "You have been since we were in first year! And though you hate to admit it, he is totally in love with you too! Everyone can see it! Everyone knows that you two are meant to be with each other! People have even started taking bets on when you two will finally hook up! Addie and I have tried telling you that but you never seem to listen to us!"

Rose stood in silence. "I am going to say thing for the last time," she said quietly. "I do not have feelings for Scorpius. I have none whatsoever, and I'm sure he feels the same for me. Whatever you two are trying to do, trying to put us together, will never, EVER work. Understand?"

"Rose, we just want you to be happy," I said softly, reaching to touch her arm. She pulled away from my touch.

"I am happy," she said. But I could tell she was lying. She even started tearing up. "I'm very happy. Scorpius means nothing more than a friend to me. That's all." I wasn't sure who Rose was trying to convince, herself or us. "All we will ever be is friends. He could never feel that way about me and I could never feel that way about him." She closed her eyes to hold back the tears. "I'm going tonight to have fun and flirt with boys and maybe even drink a little. But I'm not doing any of this for Scorpius. Scorpius and I...we will never be together. And everyone just needs to accept that."

And with that she left the room, but not before tears started falling down her face.

I looked at Alice, who looked incredibly guilty.

"I just want her to see how perfect they are for each other," she said quietly. "He's crazy about her. He's only told Al, Louis and you, but everyone knows it. But why won't he do anything about it? Why won't he just kiss her and make her see that she's crazy about him to?"

I sat down on the bed next to her. "Because Scorpius thinks that he'll only hurt her," I said, recalling our conversation at the Weasley's party at the end of the summer. "He thinks that if they were to date, it wouldn't end with a marriage and rainbows. He thinks that it will end terribly and that he would not only lose Rose, but Al, Louis and me as well. He doesn't want everyone to hate him."

"I don't think Scorp would hurt her," Alice said. "Scorpius may be big and tough, but he is such a teddy bear. He wouldn't hurt a fly as long as it didn't flirt with you or break your heart in some way."

"I know," I said, sighing. "It must suck being totally crazy about a person and not even realizing it. I don't know how Rose manages to keep denying that she doesn't have feelings for him. I'd be exhausted."

"I don't know," Alice said looking at me. "You do a pretty good job at it. And you don't even seem tired." I looked up at her in confusion. "We better go the boys are waiting."

I followed her out of the dorm. "What do you mean by that Alice?"

"Oh, not much," Alice said. "Just that you may want to analyze your feelings for a certain bright eyed boy so you realize that you and Rose aren't all that different."

Bright eyed boy? Who the fuck was that?

However, before I could inquire Alice further, we arrived at the Common Room, where Albus, Louis and Scorpius were waiting for us. Scorpius was staring at the Common Room door.

"Wow, Alice you look great," Louis said. I still had no idea who she was. "What are you supposed to be?"

"Morgan Le Fay," Alice said. "She was one of the darkest witches in Avalon and is one of the reasons Camelot failed."

Louis smiled. "Well you look great." He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the Common Room.

"So did I do something wrong?" Scorpius asked me. "To Rose I mean? Because she walked down here, saw me, burst into tears, and ran out."

"Oh, uh," I said. "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah you try not worrying about the fact that the girl your crazy about running away from you crying while looking totally hot," Scorpius said.

"Dude!" Albus said. "She's my cousin!"

"So?" Scorpius said. "It's not like you haven't-"

But before Scorpius could finish the sentence, Albus hit him over the head and gave him a warning look. Scorpius rubbed his head.

"And you say I got it bad," Scorpius muttered and walked out of the room.

I watched him in confusion and then turned back to Al with a questioning look. "What was that all about?"

Albus shrugged. "He needs to learn when to shut up. Maybe he'll stop saying dumb things to Rose."

Well. Clearly I wasn't going to get a straight answer from him.

"So what are you supposed to be?" I said, taking in the costume. He was wearing tight pants, a loose, button up shirt, and appeared to have a sword hooked onto his belt.

Haha. He has a sword.

Shut up, I'm mature.

And boy, did he look hot.

He really fills out those pants.

...HAHAHAHAHA.

Okay I'll try to be mature now.

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm never mature.

"I'm a Musketeer," Albus said. "Originally, Louis, Scorp and I were going to be the Three Musketeers. But then they both decided that was lame and they didn't want to. So now I'm stuck looking like an idiot with a sword."

Oh I'll bet you have a sword Albus.

That time I couldn't help but giggle. Albus eyed me with his beautiful, bright green eyes.

Wait...didn't Alice say that I needed to analyze my feelings for a certain bright eyed boy?

She wasn't talking about Albus was she?!

No. That's dumb. And doubtful.

Besides he has his little Slytherin love.

That bitch.

"Yes, Addie," Albus said. "I have a sword. Act your age not your shoe size."

"Wow mature, Albus," I said back. "What's your shoe size, a 4?"

"No," Albus said. "It's actually an 11."

Wow that was a big foot.

Well you know what they say about guys with big feet. They must have a big...sword.

Oh God, I am not thinking about Albus' sword am I?

NO. STOP IT BRAIN.

I wonder how big Caleb's feet are.

I realized that I had been standing in silence for a few seconds now and Albus was looking at me with a worried expression. I figured I should say something and stop thinking about his...sword. "So...ugh..." Wow Addie, articulate. "We should go to the party?"

Why did that come out as a question?

That should not have been a question.

"Sure..." Albus said. We walked out of the Common Room in silence. "Don't you have to meet your boyfriend though?"

"Nope, I'm meeting him there," I said and his sword hit my leg.

UGH THAT SOUNDED SO WRONG.

I MEANT THE ACTUAL SWORD. THE ONE MADE OF METAL. NOT...THE OTHER ONE.

UGH. I'M SO EMBARRESSING.

STOP JUDGING ME.

"Are you okay?" Albus asked me.

"Yeah I'm fine," I said. His sword hit me again. GOD DAMMIT. "Can you please stop touching me with your sword."

"I'm not trying to touch you with my sword," Albus said. "Besides I can't move it."

Is he trying to make me feel awkward?

Because I'm feeling awkward.

"Well move it!" I said, snapping at him as we arrived at the Room of Requirement. The doors opened and reveled a giant room, where people were already dancing, drinking and hooking up. "Why is it so long anyway?"

I DID NOT JUST ASK HIM WHY HIS SWORD IS LONG.

SOMEONE JUST KILL ME NOW PLEASE.

"I don't know, it just is," Albus said. Apparently he isn't feeling the awkward vibe that's surrounded me and is now drowning me.

"Well maybe if you didn't have such big feet it wouldn't be so long!" I said.

...Brain why do you hate me?

You're supposed to filter my thoughts before they come out of my mouth.

You suck brain.

Albus smirked at me and I became 10 shades of red.

"Something tells me, we aren't talking about the same sword," Albus said, giving me a full on jerk smirk.

Okay Alice, I'm analyzing my feelings. And I've realized something.

I hate Albus. With a passion.

"Shut up," I said, walking into the dance floor.

"No, it's fine," Albus said.

Someone pushed me, and I crashed into Albus' chest and his arms came around my waist.

"Let go of me," I said.

"Just dance with me," Albus said, his hips starting to grind against mine.

Merlin he looked hot.

Wait. Addie you have a boyfriend.

"I have a boyfriend," I said. I didn't really fight him though. To be with him, on the dance floor, dancing as we were...it felt natural. Almost right.

"You didn't seem to remember that in the library," he said, his lips making their way to my ear. He moved my hair and placed his lips on my neck. "And you don't seem to be fighting me very hard. You said it yourself, we have sexual tension."

Boy, did we ever have sexual tension.

I don't think we've ever had more then in this very moment. The dim lights, the loud music, people all around us, grinding against each other and making out. It would be so easy to just end all sexual tension and grab his hair and pull his lips to mine, as my hormones seemed to be begging me to.

As far as I knew, there was no one else in the room, it was just Albus and I. It was just the two of us, standing so close together that nothing could get through, our hips grinding against each other, and his lips on my neck.

It felt so right. It felt like I was always supposed to be here. My heart was hammering in my chest, faster then the beat of the song, and Albus' heart matched mine.

Albus moved his lips from my neck up the side of my face. It felt so right. And it seemed so natural for him to be doing it. I felt drunk, and I hadn't had a single drink.

Albus pulled away and looked me in the eyes. My arms had somehow made their way around his neck, clinging him to me. We stared at each other and just took in what I'm sure we were both feeling. I could see it in his eyes, the lust, the hunger and something I couldn't put my finger on. It looked so similar to how Scorpius looked at Rose. Albus rested his forehead on mine and I felt like I was flying. Everything disappeared, everything that wasn't gone already. The music disappeared, the shouts, the noise, the tension in the room. All I could hear was mine and Albus' hearts, beating so fast and so in time and I just looked into his eyes and felt the butterflies, no, butterflies was too small of a word. I felt all the birds in the entire world fly around my stomach, just by being this close to him.

Caleb never made me feel like this.

Caleb. My boyfriend.

I closed my eyes and used all my will power to push away from Albus. I ignored how bare my waist felt without his arms there, holding me close to him.

By breaking contact with him, the real world came back, and all the noise that was pushed out by the beating of our hearts was suddenly loud.

But not as loud as my heart, hormones and brain, all yelling at me for detaching myself from Albus.

"I have to go find my boyfriend," I whispered and looked at him. He was looking at me with the same expression as before, but he looked extremely hurt now.

But instead of objecting or pulling me closer he just nodded.

I turned and walked away before I could do anything else.

* * *

"Do you want to dance?" Caleb asked me. I nodded and he grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor. It was a slow song, so Caleb put his arms around my waist and I put my arms around his neck. I rested my head on his chest and tried to feel a fraction of what I felt with Albus earlier.

I liked Caleb. I did. He made me feel safe and secure. And he was hot. And a great kisser.

But he didn't make my heart race.

I scanned the party around us, looking for familiar faces. I saw Louis and Alice, slow dancing and looking so happy. I smiled watching as Louis brought her chin up and kissed her softly on the lips. Not knowing where that was going, I looked away.

I spotted Rose, sitting by the bar, a group of boys around her. Scorpius wasn't too far away and he was watching them, clutching his drink as Rose laughed loudly, clearly drunk. Scorpius got up from his barstool and went to the group and all of the guys scattered while Rose downed her drink. When she put the drink down and saw Scorpius standing there, she said something to him and then downed the shot glass next to her and took off. Scorpius looked hurt, but started following her instantly.

"I said NO, Potter!" I heard a voice say. I looked over and saw James and Annalise, the Slytherin girl he likes.

"Come on, just one slow song," James slurred, as he tried to wrap his arms around her waist. However she pushed him off.

Man, for a small girl she sure does have a lot of muscle.

Although I'm sure James being drunk helps for pushing him off.

"No, Potter!" Annalise yelled.

"But why?" James said and his eyes seemed to gloss over. "Why do you always say no to me? Maybe I'm a really good guy and you just don't see it. I don't try to make you mad. It just happens. I really, really like you. When I'm with you my heart races like crazy and I lose control of what I meant to say. I know I'm a pig-head but for once can you give me a chance?"

I didn't hear Annalise's answer because the song changed to an ear crushing screamo song. I let go of Caleb's neck and grabbed his hand to bring him to the side.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked as we walked along the party.

"I don't know," Caleb said. "Hey there are your friends, why don't we see what they're doing?"

Caleb pulled me in the direction of my friends and I saw that Louis, Alice, Scorpius and Al were all sitting by the bar talking. Alice appeared to be comforting Scorpius while he looked at something happening farther down the bar. And he looked pissed.

"Hey guys," I said. "What's up?"

Alice rubbed Scorpius' back. "Calm down Scorpius, it'll be okay."

I looked down the bar and saw that boys surrounded Rose again, and she was completely smashed. A guy put his hand on her leg and Scorpius was up like a shot. He was about to head over there when I went in front of him and felt the presence of Caleb behind me.

"Whoa there Scorpius," I said. "Sit back down."

"Rose will be fine," said the person (who wasn't Caleb...and sounded weirdly like Albus) behind me. I turned my head and saw that Albus stood behind me, his chest only inches from my back. I ignored the butterflies that appeared in my stomach.

Rose pushed the guy's hand off her leg and he didn't try it again.

"See Scorpius," I said. "Rose can take care of herself."

I turned him around and pushed him back onto his stool. I went back to Caleb's side and grabbed his hand. "You need to do something to get your mind off her."

"Like what?" Scorpius said, rudely.

Watch it buddy. If you weren't feeling bad I'd give you the old one, two.

Be scared Scorpius.

Be very scared.

"Why don't we go to the haunted house?" Caleb suggested, nodding to the part of the Room of Requirement that I hadn't ventured to.

Haunted houses tended to have boggarts. I stay as far away from boggarts as I possibly can.

Scorpius knew this. "I don't know if that's a good idea," he said, eyeing me.

Caleb noticed and wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. "Are you scared Addie?"

"No," I lied. "I'm a Gryffindor, we aren't scared of anything."

"Okay," he said kissing my head. I laid my head on my chest and I saw Albus looking at the ground with the same expression he had on earlier when I broke off from him. He raised his eyes and we made eye contact. "I'll protect you from anything that scares you."

I broke off from Al's wonderful eyes and buried my face in Caleb's chest. He pulled me closer to him and I felt that safety net come around me. With Caleb it was easy. I didn't have to take risks, I never worried that I wouldn't be good enough. I knew where I stood with him and I knew that he liked me.

He liked me a lot more than I liked him.

"Okay," I said and smiled up at him. Caleb gave me a quick peck on the lips. We joined hands and the six of us headed over to the haunted house, Caleb and I leading.

We entered the haunted house and saw that it was just a hallway with many doors.

"Now what?" Alice asked.

"I think we have to open one of the doors," Albus said. "I remember Freddy saying that depending on what door you open, you'll go through a different haunted house than other people. So we may as well just pick a door."

Scorpius walked to one of the doors and opened it. He walked in and the next thing we knew, he had disappeared. We all ran towards the door, Caleb reaching it first, then Al. Both of them disappeared.

I ran in after and suddenly felt all of my bones turn to jelly. I felt like I was Apparating, where I had no control over my body and I was being shoved through tubes.

I landed rather quickly, on someone's chest. They made an "oof" sound when I landed and I took a moment to gain control of my limbs before rolling off them.

"Thanks for landing on me," Albus said, rubbing his chest.

"Thanks for breaking my fall," I said.

Albus sat up and looked around the room. "I guess it's just the two of us here."

"What?" I said, sitting up as well. It appeared that we had landed in a corridor. "Where is everyone else?"

"I don't know," Albus asked. "We all ran in the same door right?"

I nodded and stood up. "We may as well find a way out of here." I stuck my hand out to help Albus up. He grabbed it and nearly pulled me down on top of him. "Watch it," I said. "I'm only one hundred and seven pounds you know."

Al looked down at me, since he was standing about nine inches taller than me. "I never realized how tiny you were."

"I'm not that tiny!" I said. "I'm 5 foot 4! That's a very  
reasonable height!"

Albus nodded. "Which way, Shorty?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "This way!"

I lead Albus down the hallway, which lead us to a ghost. It was one of those ghosts that Muggles always feared and actually said boo at us. Next we encountered a coffin that when you opened it bats flew out. That sort of thing was mainly what the entire haunted house was.

"Well this sucks," I said, turning a corner. "We're probably almost done and have not encountered one single thing! Except those spiders of course." I smirked at Al, referring to his reaction to the spiders that were coming down all the walls.

He ran away screaming like a little girl.

If there was ever a time for a camera it would be then.

"Spiders are scary," Albus said. "I'm sorry that I'm not willing to face something that has eight legs. That's just creepy."

I shook my head. "Your father faced a huge spider and his millions of children when he was 12. And your 16 and you can't even face a single spider."

"My father is a robot," Albus said. "Spiders are creepy and you know it."

Al and I walked in silence for a while.

"I think we're almost done," I said.

"I hope so," he said.

We turned the corner and right in front of us was a giant wardrobe.

Shit.

"Should we open it?" Al asked me, walking toward the wardrobe.

"No," I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back.

"Why?" Albus said. "You scared?" Albus smirked at me. "I doubt there's anything to scary in there. It's probably something lame like the rest of this haunted house."

"Or it could be a boggart," I said. "And I'd rather not have to face that."

"Why?" Al asked, looking genuinely concerned. "What are you so afraid of?"

I looked up at him. I could tell him. It wouldn't be hard. But when I tried to speak nothing came out.

Al nodded his head, as he if he understood that I couldn't tell him. "Just stand behind me and I'll take care of it."

"Okay," I said and took my place behind him. I adjusted myself so I couldn't even see the wardrobe.

"Ready?" Albus said.

"Yeah," I said quietly.

Albus grabbed his wand out of his pocket. He tightened his grip and aimed it toward the wardrobe. The door flew open.

For a moment nothing happened.

But then, suddenly Al was pulled against the wall by something that looked similar to snakes. His hands were held up against the wall and were woven around, holding him in place.

"Al!" I said and I went toward him.

But not before I heard the voice.

It was the voice that haunted me in my darkest times, the voice that made me feel worthless. I had been hearing it less and less as the years had gone by, and yesterday was the first time I heard it in months.

"Addie," my mum's voice said behind me. I wanted to go help Albus, to free him. Because I couldn't do this. I couldn't save myself from this fear.

I turned and saw that the boggart had taken the shape of my mother, at least the one form I knew her as. It looked exactly like the picture I had until third year, when I ripped it up and burned it.

By that point I knew she wasn't coming back.

"Addie dear," said my faux mother. She looked young, since she was only about 28 or so in the picture I had. She and I looked similar; same blonde hair, same eyeshape and same body. But my curly hair and blue eyes were things that I inherited from my father, a mystery man I never knew and had no intention of knowing. "Oh Addie my how you've grown. Such a...unique look you have." She looked like she was disappointed. "You look so much like me, only not as pretty. How are your grades? Not good I bet, you never were very smart."

I knew Albus must have been confused, wondering who this woman was. And I knew I should grab my wand and make her go away but I couldn't. I was frozen in place.

"You never were good enough were you?" Mum said, and she began to circle me. I felt tears starting to prick my eyes. I never should've done this stupid haunted house. "Always not good enough in school, never even could do anything for yourself could you? You were such a pathetic little child. I doubt that changed with age."

"Addie," I heard Albus say. "Don't listen to her."

"You didn't know this, but you're the reason your father left. Even at a young age he could tell that you were going to be a pathetic excuse of a daughter."

"Addie!" Albus said, louder now. He was fighting off the snakes that held him to the wall but more seemed to appear. "Addie stop listening!"

But I couldn't. I was frozen in place, taking in every word my mother said.

"I on the other hand thought maybe you could amount to something," Mum said. "However you proved me wrong. So I left. I couldn't stay for something that was never going to be good enough."

The tears were falling quickly now and Albus was shouting at me to stop listening. But I couldn't. She was right.

"You're not pretty enough or smart enough. It's a wonder Draco and Astoria have put up with you," she said. It took all my energy to stand because I was crying so hard. "Especially with Scorpius as a son. He's so smart and just all around wonderful. You are nothing compared to him. And soon, that whole family will figure out what your father and I already know." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "You are never going to amount to anything. And they'll leave you and you'll be alone."

At that, I lost my ability to stand. I just couldn't do it anymore, the pain hurt too much.

She was right. She was one hundred percent right.

I fell to the ground and pulled my knees to myself, trying to make myself as small as possible. I barely heard Albus' shouts now, all I heard was my mother, telling me the truth.

"But you may think you have your friends right? But no, they too will realize what a pathetic human you are," Mum's voice sounded soothing almost, like she was reading me a bedtime story even though she was doing to total opposite. "Rose is far too smart to deal with you. It's a wonder she hasn't given up on you already. And Alice will get fed up of you holding her back. They'll both go off and make something of themselves while you do nothing with your life. And not even with your life, but right now. It's a wonder you even got a boyfriend with them around! Alice, perhaps one of the most beautiful girls in Hogwarts, could easily take him away if she chose. And Rose too, she's far smarter than you could even dream of being! It's funny how they even became friends with you. It was probably out of pity. They'll leave you, just as people always leave you. And then Caleb, well, he quickly realize that you aren't as great as he made you up to be. And he'll leave. And you'll be alone. But those won't even be the most painful losses."

I sobbed and hugged my legs, mentally begging her to stop. I didn't want to know what the most painful loss would be. She already listed everyone important to me leaving me. Who else could there be?

"Oh no, you'll be devastated after he leaves," Mum said. "Your heart will break in to a million pieces. And you won't even realize it until it's too late. You're very proud, Addison. You don't even realize that you want something so badly because you know that you can't have it. You can't have him. You aren't good enough for him. So you don't even that your feelings could ever go past what you claim they are. But they are far past that. They are quite the opposite of what you think. But you know you aren't good enough, so you don't even bother trying to get him. Trying to win him over. He is a Golden Boy after all, there's no chance in hell that you could get him." Mum laughed. "If there's one thing you're good at, it's knowing what you don't deserve, and you will never ever deserve him. Nor will he ever want you. You'll always be the crazy bitch Addie Malfoy. And he'll see it the most clearly. He's been here for so long and it's a wonder that you've never realized your feelings for him. But it's good that you don't. You don't want to get your hopes that someone as amazing as him could fall for you. Your family history doesn't match his. It's good to listen to your mind over your heart in this case."

I listened through my sobs, trying to figure out who it was. But I couldn't. But my heart, my heart seemed to know exactly who she was talking about, because the thought of this mystery boy leaving me, made it ache with longing. I didn't want to lose this boy.

"You're almost like me," Mum whispered. "You aren't good enough. You're the child they whisper about because of your heritage. You have no mother or father and someday you will have no one. Everyone will leave you but you don't have the heart to leave anyone. At least I could leave people. I wasn't a pathetic little girl like you. Nobody will ever love you, Addison. Nobody will ever stay. You aren't good enough and you never will be."

"Riddikulus," I heard Albus say. Suddenly, it was completely quiet in the room. And I knew she was gone.

"She's right," I said, through my sobs. I put my face in my knees, trying to make it so he couldn't see my tears.

I heard Albus' footsteps come towards my direction and felt him sit on the ground next to me. His arms snaked around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. One of his hands stayed at my waist and the other went to my hair, gently stroking it. He pulled me as close to him as he possibly could, curling me into his chest.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him as tight as I possibly could. I sobbed into his chest, not caring if I got snot all over his shirt. All that mattered was I was in his arms and he was holding me. I just let all the tears out because it felt right to do so.

I felt safe.

It was as if a blockade had come and made it so nothing could hurt me. Nothing could make me feel bad or hurt me because Albus was holding me.

But Mum's words still ran through my mind.

"She's right," I said. "She's one hundred percent right. Everyone's going to leave me. Everyone is going to realize that I'm not worth it. That I'm not good enough. That I'm never good enough."

"Addie," Albus said, softly in my ear. "She wasn't right."

"But she was," I said. "No one wants me, my own parents didn't want me. I'm a waste of space."

"No you're not," Albus said, kissing my temple. "You're a lot of things but you are absolutely not a waste of space."

"Everyone's going to leave me," I whispered into his chest. "Rose, Scorpius, Alice, Caleb, Louis, everyone will realize that I'm not good enough." I tried pulling myself closer to him. "Even you. Everyone is going to realize that I'm going nowhere and that I'm never going to amount to anything. They'll stop loving me and they'll leave. They'll leave just like everyone else. And I'll be alone." I pulled my face off Albus' chest to look at him. His beautiful eyes. "I'll be completely alone."

I was about to put my head back on his chest. I couldn't face him. Facing him, while knowing that he too was going to leave me, hurt.

We were friends now. But he was just going to leave me alone. And that thought made my entire body and heart hurt. By letting him see all this, he could realize that I'm not worth it and leave. And I couldn't handle looking into his eyes and knowing that.

But he stopped me. As Albus does so well, he fought against me. He put his hands on either side of my face and forced me to look at him. His eyes searched mine and he looked at me in the same way that Scorpius looked at Rose, like he just couldn't believe how amazing and beautiful she was.

My make up had to be ruined now. The eyeliner, the mascara, the glitter, it all had to be all over my face. I had to look like a total and complete mess.

Yet Albus was looking at me like I was the most beautiful girl ever.

"Addie," he said, rubbing his thumb along my cheek. "That's not true. No one is going to leave you. We're all are going to be here no matter what you do. Nothing you do could disappoint us." I shook my head and wanted to argue, but I couldn't find the voice too. Albus knew that I didn't believe him. He brought my face closer to his and rested his forehead on mine. "You are good enough," he whispered. "You are so incredibly good enough. You're the most amazing friend to everyone and you have the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, which is a good thing. You would do nearly anything for your friends. You're incredibly smart, even if you don't do the best in school. You're an amazing Chaser, definitely one of the best in the school or James wouldn't have put you on the team. And you're not pretty. You're absolutely beautiful. You're strong willed, stubborn, cunning, smart, kind and willing to stand up to anyone. You are more than good enough, Addie." His green eyes bore into my blue ones, and I could see that he meant it. He meant every word that came out of his mouth. "Caleb is a lucky guy to have you. Any guy would be lucky to have you, just like anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend. It's amazing that you can't see how amazing you are." He wiped a tear away from my face. I shut my eyes and just took in everything he was saying. Took him, holding me as if he had been doing it for years and making me feel worth something, in.

"I'm not the amazing one," I whispered to him. "You are."

Albus seemed surprised by this, and so was I. But it was true. He was amazing.

"Trust me, you're amazing," Al whispered back. "And anyone who says you aren't isn't worth your time. You're one of the most amazing people I've ever met." He pushed some loose curls out of my face. "One day, you are going to make a great wife to some lucky guy."

I couldn't help but have images come up in my mind. Me with a husband and kids. Doing wifey things. Having Scorpius and Rose over for dinner and making a huge meal for both our families to eat. My husband was pretty clear to me too.

I don't know if it was what just happened or how I felt so connected with him, but the person that was standing beside me in all of those images was Albus.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I then lifted my face up a little bit until our noses touched. I opened my eyes and saw him staring right back at me.

It felt so right. I wanted to kiss him so badly.

Albus looked at me and sighed, closing his eyes. For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me. But then he opened them and pulled back.

"We had better get out of here," he said, almost painfully.

I pulled my arms back and he pulled his back too. I slowly crawled out of his chest, out of my safety zone. He stood up first and offered a hand to help me up. Once I was up, I stopped him before he could walk away and put my arms around his neck. His came around my waist, almost like a reflex.

"Thank you, Al" I said to him.

He rested his cheek on top of my hair. "No problem." I heard him laugh. "You called me Al. You've never called me that before."

I smiled into his chest. I liked that he noticed me calling him Al.

I didn't want to let go, I didn't want to go and face the real world. I wanted to stay in Albus' arms in the haunted house forever if it meant the peace and quiet and safety I felt here.

I pulled my arms back and fortunately, Albus left one arm around my waist. I leaned into him as we walked.

I didn't even try to ignore how perfectly we fit together.

* * *

When Albus and I finally reached the end of the haunted house, I was happy and sad. Happy that I wouldn't have to face the boggart again and sad that mine and Al's nice moment would have to come to an end.

When we walked out, I saw Scorpius and Caleb standing together, Scorpius looking at something with an agitated look on his face and Caleb was looking around, probably looking for me. When he spotted me, he started smiling brightly, but darkened when he saw Albus' arm around my waist. Reluctantly, I pushed away from Albus and went over to Caleb and engulfed him in a hug, hoping to get more comfort in his arms than in Al's.

It didn't work.

I felt safe, but not indestructible.

Dammit.

"Hey," he said as I pulled back. I quietly greeted him and turned toward Scorpius, who stopped glaring in the distance to give Al a questioning look. They appeared to be having a silent conversation.

Well Scorpius sucks since he never has silent conversations with me.

Scorpius turned to me. "Boggart?" He asked me. I only nodded. He lifted his arms, asking me if I needed a hug and I ran into them.

Scorp's arms were unlike any other because they were the ones there for me the longest. I will never stop loving the feeling of hugging him.

Scorpius held me close and rubbed my back soothingly. "I'm not going anywhere," he said quietly. "I promise."

"I know," I said back.

"I love you Ads," he said. "Nothing is ever going to change that."

Scorpius kissed my head and let me go. I went back to Caleb and got a questioning look.

"What happened in there?" Caleb asked me.

"Nothing," I said.

"No, tell me," he said. "I want to know."

"Mate, lay off," Albus said. "She doesn't want to talk about it."

"Yeah well you clearly know about it don't you?" Caleb asked rudely.

"Well I was there," Albus said, just as rudely. I shot him a glance telling him to knock it off.

"Nothing happened, Caleb," I said. "I ran into a boggart. That's all I'm willing to say."

"Well what was your boggart?" Caleb asked me.

"I'd rather not talk about it," I said. "And you should respect that."

"I do respect that," Caleb said and I could see I hurt him. "I just wish you would tell me. I wish I was there to protect you like I promised I would."

I quickly kissed him on the cheek. "Maybe I'll tell you someday. But I can't right now."

"That bastard," Scorpius said from behind us. We both turned and saw him looking directly at Rose.

Rose was very drunk now, to the point of where she could barely stand up. It was clear she was going to pass out soon. A guy pushed her up against a wall and, through she tried, Rose couldn't push him away. Before I could even process all this, Scorpius was over there and pulled the guy off of Rose.

"You fucking arsehole!" Scorpius yelled, as he slammed his fist into the guy's face. I ran over to the scene. "She said no. Get that through your thick skull fuckhead."

The guy tried coming back up, but that ended with him getting kicked in the privates by me.

No one messes with the Malfoy's. We're protective people and you don't try to take advantage of anyone we care about.

Especially Rose.

In fact, I would have continued kicking him in the privates if Albus hadn't pulled me away.

"Scorp," Rose said, leaning back against the wall and crying. "I was scared, I was so scared. He wouldn't get away and I couldn't push him off..." Rose put her face in her hands.

"It's okay Rose," Scorpius said, wrapping his arms around her. He sighed a breath of relief. "I'm just glad your okay."

They stood like that for a while, Scorpius even kissed her head multiple times. You could tell just by looking at them how perfect they were. She fit so well into him and he looked so relieved that she was okay. That she was the safest place she could be, which was in his arms.

"I told you they were good for each other," I said to Albus. Albus only smiled at me.

I felt Caleb's arm come around my waist and pull me close to him. I rested my head on his shoulder. "Where's Alice and Louis?"

Caleb nodded toward a couch where they both sat, laughing and stealing kisses from one another.

It's been a good night for my friends.

"Scorp," Rose said quietly. "I want to go to sleep."

"Okay," Scorpius said and pulled away. "Can you walk there?"

Rose took one step and nearly fell, but Scorpius caught her just in time. "It's okay, I got you," he said as he lifted Rose into his arms, bridal style. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled into his arms.

"I think I'm going to head to bed too," I said, watching as Scorpius slowly made his way through the room, Albus close behind him.

"I'll walk you," Caleb said, grabbing my hand.

We caught up to the rest of the group and walked in a comfortable silence. Scorpius led the way, Caleb and I in the middle, and Albus trailing behind. It took a lot of strength not to look back at him.

When we reached the Gryffindor Common Room, I turned to Caleb to say goodnight, and I saw Albus over his shoulder, down the hall and walking very slowly.

"Night," I said, reaching up to kiss him.

"Night," he said. He turned and headed toward his Common Room, giving Albus a glare as he went.

I waited for Albus to catch up before I entered the Common Room. I headed up to the boys dorms, knowing that since there was no way Scorpius could get up the girls dorms, that he must have taken her up to his.

I was right. The door to his and Al's room was half open and I looked in and smiled at the scene before me. Rose was fast asleep, curled up against Scorpius' chest and their hands were intertwined. Scorpius' eyes were fluttering open and close, as if she would disappear at any moment.

"He better not try anything," Albus said sternly from behind me.

"He won't," I said. "Let's give them some time."

I laced my fingers in Al's and pulled him toward the entrance of the Common Room.

"Where are we going?" Albus asked me when we reached the Entry Hall.

"For a walk," I said. I pulled him out the front doors and onto the grounds.

It was cold, but not too cold. The moon was bright and the entire sky was dark blue. It was the time I loved.

"When I first got to Hogwarts," I said, as we walked toward the Black Lake. "And I found myself missing Mum, I would always come out here in the middle of the night and sit by the lake. I would try to clear my head of her and the fears going through my head."

"What the boggart said?" Albus asked as we sat down. But we never let go of each other's hand.

I nodded. "I figured tonight would be a good night to do this. I hadn't done it in a long time because I didn't need too. I hadn't even thought of Mum since the party at the end of the summer."

"Can I ask you something?" Albus said. I nodded. "Is that why what I said then bothered you so much? About your Mum?"

"A little," I said, remembering his words. "I used to just think it was in my head. But then you said it and I thought maybe it was true. Maybe all the thoughts that I kept to myself were true."

"They aren't," Albus said, squeezing my hand. "They aren't in the least bit true. I know I've been an arse over the years and I'm sorry, I really am."

I looked at him, sitting beside me. "I know you are."

"Because honestly, if I could go back and redo the last six years with you I would," Albus said. "I was such a dumb idiot."

"And you're super smart now?" I asked him, laughing. "As I recall, you still have a crazy ex girlfriend who can't seem to understand you aren't interested. If you were smart you would have at least gotten a restraining order by now."

"Oh and your so smart?" Albus asked laughing as well. He let go of my hand and laid back on the ground. "You hooked up with a guy in the Restricted Section to piss off my brother. You were basically asking for Thompson to find you and kick you out of the library."

"Oh shut it!" I said. "I'm pretty sure I ended up getting kicked out with you!"

"Not my fault you can't keep your hands off me," Albus said, giving me a smirk.

"Get over yourself," I said and hit him on the chest.

"You did not just hit me," Albus asked, sitting up.

"Yeah I did just hit you," I said, mocking his five-year-old tone. "What are you going to do about it?"

An evil grin appeared on his face as he scooted closer to me. "Well," he said and looped and arm around my waist.

"Ugh..." I said.

"Tickle monster is here," he said, full on smirking now.

"NO!" I yelled as his fingers moved across my stomach. I tried grabbing his hands to move them away but I started laughing too hard. "Stop it!"

I lay back on the grass, hoping he would stop but he didn't. He got right on top of me and kept tickling me, laughing himself. I tried grabbing his hands but he always got out of my grip.

"Stop it!" I said through giggles.

"Only when you say sorry," Albus said, still tickling me.

Don't give in Addie. Don't do it.

"I'm sorry!" I said.

Wow, great self control there, Ads.

Albus stopped but we both laughed for a few more seconds and his hands found mine and laced our fingers together. He stopped laughing first and just watched me laugh, with a half smile on his face.

"What?" I asked him when I finally caught my breath.

"Nothing," he said, squeezing my hands. "You just look really beautiful."

I blushed and realized what position we were in.

I was lying with my back on the ground and he was on top of my, his legs on either side of my hips. Our hands were at my sides and Al was looking at me like he wanted to kiss me.

"Al?" I asked him.

"Yeah?" he said, tearing his gaze away from my lips to my eyes.

"Do you want to kiss me?"

Albus didn't say anything, he just sat there, as if he was debating over his answer. Time stood still as I waited, lying there beneath him.

I could've pushed him off. I should've pushed him off.

But I didn't.

And he noticed this. He knew that if I wanted to get out of this position I would be gone. There's no way I would be sitting here right now, waiting for an answer that I shouldn't be hoping for.

The longer I waited, the more butterflies appeared in my stomach.

Slowly, as if making sure I was okay with it, he lowered himself onto me. His chest rested on mine and he put our hands up toward my head, so he could support some of his weight. He was hesitant, but slowly his head dipped down to mine.

Finally, after what seemed like years of waiting, hoping and  
fighting, he kissed me.

I got my answer.

* * *

A/N: THEY KISSED! Yay! It finally happened! This was a long chapter (OVER 9000 WORDS!) and I thought about breaking it into two. But I thought that since I love all you readers so much, I may as well give you two gifts, which were a fast update and a super long chapter.

So what did you think? was the long chapter worth it? or was it a piece of poop?

There was TONS of Al/Addie and Rose/Scorpius stuff. And I love Alice and Louis, so I tried to get them in here as much as possible, although they weren't the main focus. And James and Annalise even got a small scene :3

And you learned a lot about Addie. It actually made me cry to go into all of Addie's fears, because I have similar fears. It freaks me out how similar Addie and I are. (I was trying to make Addie awesome though. So it makes since that she would turn out like me) (just kidding. I'm a huge dork. I spend my free time writing fanfiction about Harry Potter characters. I'm a teenager. I should be drinking or something bad like that. But nope, I'm too big of a Potterhead for that. Wow this is a long tangent I went on. Back to the Author's Note)

So tell me! What was your favorite part? Your favorite quote? Character? Couples? Anything really. I would like to know what you thought of Addie's boggart, it's a really different side of Addie than I've shown.

Anyway, after this really long author's note, I think you understand that I like to talk. And I like to hear what you have to say about the story. Your reviews keep me going.

So here is your gift.

Now if you want to give me one, leave a review.


	11. The Madness After the Kiss

_"Do you want to kiss me?"_

_Albus didn't say anything; he just sat there, as if he was debating over his answer. Time stood still as I waited, lying there beneath him._

_I could've pushed him off. I should've pushed him off._

_But I didn't._

_And he noticed this. He knew that if I wanted to get out of this position I would be gone. There's no way I would be sitting here right now, waiting for an answer that I shouldn't be hoping for._

_The longer I waited, the more butterflies appeared in my stomach._

_Slowly, as if making sure I was okay with it, he lowered himself onto me. His chest rested on mine and he put our hands up toward my head, so he could support some of his weight. He was hesitant, but slowly his head dipped down to mine._

_Finally, after what seemed like years of waiting, hoping and fighting, he kissed me._

_I got my answer._

When Al's lips met mine, time stopped. The overwhelming amount of butterflies in my stomach and my brain yelling at me that I shouldn't be kissing Al because I have boyfriend didn't matter. All that mattered was Al.

It was a slow kiss, almost safe. At first, it almost seemed like we were just placing our lips on each other's. But then we slowly began to move our lips and got into a slow and steady rhythm. His lips felt so natural and I was intoxicated.

I pulled my hands out of Albus' and ran them through his hair and then pulled him closer to me. Albus followed my lead and held my waist. I arched my back to get closer to him and he put him arms beneath me and held me close. Slowly he rolled over so that his back was on the ground and I was lying on top of him. It felt so perfect.

For once, Albus and I didn't have huge amounts of sexual tension that was so thick that you could feel it. Our kiss didn't seem like it was one of built up sexual frustration, it was quite the opposite. It was soft and slow and even when I deepened the kiss and felt his tongue run along my teeth, the kiss wasn't hungry. It was never hungry or desperate. It's almost as if both of us were trying to hold onto this small time and make the most of it. There was passion and fire that normally were only seen in huge Muggle romance movies that Rose made me watch.

There was nothing more I wanted to do. All I wanted was to keep kissing Albus. No matter how wrong it may be.

But how can it be wrong when it feels so right?

It's wrong because I have a boyfriend.

I was cheating on my boyfriend.

At that realization, I pulled away from Albus. I didn't remove my hands from his hair and I didn't get up. I waited for him to open his eyes.

When he finally did, I looked into them. I hated what I had to do, but I was not a cheater.

I tried to hide the tears that were threatening to come. Albus saw them and sat up, and pulled me into his chest, just as he did earlier.

"What's wrong?" he asked me quietly, kissing my cheek.

I wanted so badly to just hide in his arms and bury my head in his chest. I wanted to hide away from the world and the truth that I had just betrayed Caleb. I wanted to ignore how right this felt and remember that it's Albus. He hates me, just like I hate him.

A tear fell from my eyes and Albus wiped it away. "Addie," he said, putting his forehead on mine. "Tell me what's wrong."

We were so close. I could push all these feelings that seemed to be welling up inside me out and kiss him. I wanted to, so badly, especially now that I knew what it was like. I knew how perfect it felt and how I never wanted it to end. He made me get all the feelings I read about in books but never experienced. He somehow made me feel things that Caleb never even got close to.

But I was with Caleb. I had already betrayed him once. I couldn't do it again.

I looked back into his beautiful eyes. He seemed to care. He wanted to know why I was upset.

But I couldn't tell him.

Slowly, he moved forward again, and his lips met mine. I pulled away instantly but not before I felt the spark that went through my entire body.

"You shouldn't have done that," I whispered. He looked at me, almost hurt. "I have a boyfriend." Now Albus was definitely hurt. I could see it in his eyes. And I wanted to tell him that if I didn't have Caleb, I would gladly kiss him for the rest of eternity. But I wasn't a cheater. I felt more tears fall out of my eyes, only now Al didn't make a move to wipe them away or comfort me. "We shouldn't have done that."

I pulled my hands back, out of his hair and broke free of his grip. I stood up, wobbly, and tried walking back to the castle without tears falling.

It didn't work. The more distance I put between Albus and I, the more the tears came. I eventually started running and ran all the way up to my dorm and threw myself at my bed. I started sobbing as I pulled my blankets tight to me.

I didn't know if I was crying because I had just cheated or if it's because it felt like I had just broken my heart by pushing Al away.

I decided I didn't want to know the answer.

* * *

I woke up because the sunlight shone into my room. I was still in my costume but my wings were missing since I discarded them somewhere last night. For a moment, I thought about last night, trying to figure out what happened.

And it came rushing back. The boggart, Scorpius and Rose, Caleb, and the kiss. The kiss with Al.

I laid in bed for a few minutes, trying to figure out why he would do that. Why would he kiss me? It made no sense. We hated each other; we have always hated each other, from first year.

After 10 minutes of debating with myself (it is perfectly normal to debate with myself. I'm not insane, any sane person would do it. Duh. You're the insane one. You try getting kissed by the hate of your life and try and not debate with yourself. Idiot) I got up out of my bed. I had a headache, probably from drinking last night. I didn't have much to drink but maybe I had more than I thought I did.

Maybe that's why Albus kissed me.

He was tipsy. And that's why I kissed him back.

We were both tipsy.

It made perfect sense.

Boom.

And you were thinking it actually meant something.

Idiots.

I looked around the dorm, noticing that I was the only on in here. Rose must have still been asleep in Scorpius' arms (fuck yeah. My plan is working. They'll be married by Christmas) and I had no idea where Alice was. Off with Louis I'm sure.

Ew, I hope they didn't do anything gross.

IMAGES OUT OF MY MIND.

GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

Ew. Well I think I'm safe now.

I went into the bathroom to get all the make up and glitter off. Surprisingly, there wasn't very much of it on my face and I didn't look like the hungover baby raccoon I thought I would.

I would consider this a success.

Once all my make up was washed off, I went into the cabinet to see if Rose made any hangover potions. I saw that there were about 10 bottles in there. I took one and only drank half, since I only have a small hangover.

I get the feeling Rose will need the other nine with the massive hangover she's going to have.

I changed out of my costume and into my PJs, one of Scorp's old shirts and some sweat pants, and threw my hair up in a bun.

Needless to say, I looked like the hottest person ever.

That was sarcasm.

I walked down to the Common Room, looking around for any one of my friends. It was deserted though so I headed up to the boys dorms.

I went into James and Freddy's room, and saw them passed out. Freddy had some girl clinging to him and I put the hangover potion next to his bed, deciding not to wake him up. Waking Freddy up before he gets rid of his latest slag was never a good thing to do.

I went over to the other side of the room, passing their roommates beds, and sat on James' bed. He was totally passed out and, unlike Freddy, alone in his bed.

He got to be woken up.

"James," I whispered, poking him in the side. "James wake up."

He turned over onto his side. "Go away," he mumbled.

"Come on James, wake up," I said, poking him harder. He tired to push my hand away. "I have a hangover potion." He put his hand out, asking for the potion. "Sit up first," I said. "You know you'll spill it if you try to drink it while sleeping."

James groaned and sat up. I handed the potion over to him and he chugged it. "Thanks Ads," he said, placing the bottle on the table beside him. He sat back against the wall behind him. "So what did you think of the party? In my opinion it was one of the best."

"It was good," I said. "The haunted house wasn't too great though."

"Really? And why's that?" James asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Because it wasn't scary at all," I said. "And suddenly there's a boggart. It was unexpected."

"Well that's kind of the point," James said. His blanket fell to reveal his bare chest and the top of his boxers. Me likey. "Boggarts bring out people's worst fear."

"Yeah well it would've been nice if you told me they were in there," I said, giving him a pointed look.

"Shit," he said. "I'm sorry Addie. How bad was it?"

I looked down at my hands, trying not to think of it. "It was bad."

"I'm so sorry, Ads," he said, pulling me against his bare chest. "I completely forgot."

"It's okay," I said. "You only saw it once, I can't expect you to remember."

"But seeing you cry and be so scared over that was enough," James said, rubbing my back. Most girls would hate me. I kissed Albus last night and now a shirtless James is hugging me.

It's okay bitches, be jealous.

It's hard to have as much swag as I do.

"I'm a bad friend and overprotective fake brother," he said quietly.

I pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. "No you aren't, James. You're a great friend and a great overprotective fake brother. I'm pretty sure you scared the crap out of Caleb the first time you met him." I kissed him on the cheek. "I was okay."

"Really?" James asked, surprised. "You managed to get rid of the boggart?"

"Well, I didn't," I said. "But Albus did."

James smirked at me. "Well, well, well, my brother saved the girl? What were you and Albus doing in the Haunted house alone?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh not like that," I said, shoving him. "Scorp, Al, Lou, Alice, Caleb and I all went in together and when we went through a door we all got separated and I somehow ended up with Albus. And therefore he saw me, crying in a ball on the ground while the boggart told me everyone that I have ever cared about in my whole life was going to leave me and that I would never be good enough. It was really quite romantic and it's a wonder that we're not engaged now."

Man, I'm in a sarcastic mood today.

I decided it would be best to leave out the whole Albus comforting me and then us kissing later. They were both mistakes and meant nothing to either of us.

Why are you giving me that look?

HEY DON'T CALL ME A LIAR! I'M NOT LYING!

Lying is bad.

I'm not bad. I'm good.

Duh.

"Alright," James said. "Whatever you say. It's your love life."

"Speaking of love lives," I said. "What's going on with you? You normally have a girl after the party. But you don't."

"Oh," James said. "Um..."

"AND you have been paying a lot of attention to Annalise, the pretty girl from Slytherin," I said. James was looking down at his hands. "Has a girl stolen James Potter's heart?"

"No," James said, quickly. Too quickly for it to be anything but a lie. "She's just a girl that I talk to. It's not a big deal."

"James you asked her to go out with you, tried to kiss her, tried to dance with her last night and after she kept rejecting you made a drunken confession about how much you like her and how your heart beats faster whenever she's around you," I said. "I also think you said that you were a good guy and that she should give you a chance."

James sighed. "I did do all that didn't I?"

I nodded. "You did."

"Okay so maybe I like her more than I like other girls," James said, quietly. "It's not like it matters. She hates me. She won't even be able to be in the same room as me without screaming at me. And I have no idea what to do."

"James Potter, master at getting girls, has no idea what to do?" I asked him, shocked. There has never been a girl James can't get. Most girls fall at his feet if he even says hi to them. "I can't believe it."

"I can understand why she hates me," James said. "I'm a tool to her. I piss her off, I say dumb stuff yet I somehow think that she'll magically fall in love with me. I've never had to actually make a girl like me before they always just did."

"Well maybe it just proves that she's special," I said. "She isn't like all the other girls, she isn't going to fall for you simply because of your name and looks. She isn't looking to be one of your hook ups. Maybe she wants to be courted and treated like a girl. She wants to make sure you aren't just going to push her aside when the next best thing comes along."

James sighed. "Girls are so confusing."

"Not as confusing as boys," I said, thinking about Albus. You claim to hate a girl for six years, insult everything about her, then tell her she's amazing, comfort her, tell her she's beautiful and then kiss her.

It doesn't get more confusing than that.

"Well you have a boyfriend, so it can't be too confusing," James said, eyeing me suspiciously. "Unless there are problems in your little relationship."

"No!" I said, but could tell James didn't believe me. "Caleb and I don't have issues. We don't even fight."

"Maybe that's the issue," James said. "People always say the best loves are those where the two people can't stand each other at first, only to realize that beneath all that arguing and hatred is a passionate, fiery, love."

I rolled my eyes. "Well I guess that leaves hope for you and Annalise then?"

"Yep," he said. "But not as much hope as it does for you and Al."

I stared at him, trying to think of what to say.

"That's ridiculous," I managed to spit out. "Albus and I will never be together."

"As I recall, that's what Elizabeth Bennet said about Mr. Darcy," James said, going all Muggle on me. "Same with Benedick and Beatrice."

"Yes well, they were perfect for each other," I said.

"And so are you and Al," James said. "You just need to kiss him and see it."

I gaped at James, trying not to think about how right the kiss with Albus felt so right. Is that how you know when you're perfect for each other? Because if so, well then Albus and I were perfect for each other. We were made to be together.

I shook that idiotic thought out of my head. "That's dumb, James."

He was about to respond when there was a scream from the next room over.

A girl scream.

From the sixth year dorms.

Which Rose was in.

James and I both ran out of his room and into the sixth year dorm to see Rose with her head buried in Scorpius' chest and Albus standing there with only a towel and a freaked out expression on his face.

Oh. My. God.

Albus has the most amazing body.

Seriously. It's taking all my strength not to jump him and snog his brains out right now.

I never knew that abs could be so perfect.

"Ew! Ew! Ew!" Rose screamed. "Please tell me he has a towel on now!"

Scorpius held Rose to his chest and kissed her forehead, smiling. "He does."

I think I might actually be in heaven. Rose and Scorpius seemed to have made huge progress, as they are cuddling on his bed and acting all around adorable, James and Albus both don't have their shirts on, giving me the wonderful view of their beautiful abs.

I love Harry and Ginny Potter for creating such beautiful children.

Even Lily is beautiful. She's one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen.

"Rose what are you doing here?" James asked, pushing me so he could get into the room.

Unfortunately that pushed me into Albus.

Who was only wearing a towel.

"Sorry," I said, avoiding looking at him. Because as if it wasn't awkward enough that we kissed last night, but now he was standing there looking like a fucking sex God and my hormones were basically yelling at me to jump him.

My hormones are bitches.

"It's fine," Albus said.

I wonder if anyone else could feel the obvious awkwardness that was in the air.

Probably not.

"I stayed here last night," Rose said, happily.

What the fuck Rose, you were drunk out of your mind, how are you not having a massive hangover?!

Maybe she's still drunk.

She laced her fingers with Scorp's.

Yep, she's still drunk. There's no way she would do that if she was sober.

"You, WHAT?" said a loud voice from behind us. I turned and saw Hugo standing at the door, wearing only sweatpants.

Okay, must all the Wotter boys have amazing abs?!

I'm starting to creep on Hugo, his abs were so amazing.

I'm breaking like every friend law ever by creeping on my best friend's little brother.

I regret nothing.

"Oh, Hugo, calm down," Rose said. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?!" Hugo yelled. Man in this two-minute conversation he's said more than I've heard him say in six years. "You spent the night in some guys dorm!"

"Nothing happened," Scorpius said, sitting up. Rose glared at him and sat in his lap, leaning her back against his chest. I think I might die they're so cute. "She was drunk and I brought her back here because some guy was about to take advantage of her. I figured that she would be safer with me, than with someone else."

Hugo glared at Scorpius. "Fine." He turned to James. "Look what your party did to my sister."

"How is this my fault?" James asked. "I didn't force drinks down her throat this was all her doing!"

"Well if you didn't have that dumb party she wouldn't be drunk in the first place!" Hugo yelled.

Man, I never knew he was such an overprotective brother.

"Oh, you're just jealous," James said. "You still aren't allowed to go and that pisses you off. Well don't worry Hugo, next year you'll be allowed to come!"

"I don't give a shit about your stupid party!" Hugo said. "Imagine if it was Lily, instead of Rose in some guys bed, completely drunk. I'm not overreacting. Your party gets everyone drunk and makes them do stupid things they wouldn't normally do!"

Albus and I made eye contact when he said that and I know we were both thinking about the kiss.

It was a stupid thing we wouldn't normally do.

All because we both were tipsy.

"Oh, Hugo, lay off him," Rose said, pulling Scorp's arms around her. I could tell all three Wotter boys were torn between killing Scorpius and letting him live since this was the only time anything like this had ever happened. "I'm fine. I'm safe. Nothing happened. All thanks to Scorpius."

"Whatever," Hugo said and left the room.

"Here's your hangover potion," I said to Rose, placing it on Scorp's bedside table.

"Thank you," she said, from her perch in Scorpius' lap. She looked so happy.

I'm glad that when she's drunk she doesn't deny her feelings.

I left the room and heard footsteps behind me. "Addie," Albus said, grabbing my arm and pulling me around.

He's still not wearing a shirt.

My hormones are going insane.

"So we need to talk," he said.

"Talk about what?" I asked him.

"About...last night," he said.

"No we don't, " I said getting out of his grasp. "It was a mistake and I have a boyfriend. So it didn't mean anything."

I tried to ignore the hurt look on his face as I walked away.

It didn't mean anything.

* * *

The look on Al's face after I told him the kiss didn't mean anything haunted me for the next week.

I couldn't get it out of my head and I tried, trust me, I tried.

He avoided me the next week and every time he looked at me, he got this pained look on his face.

Which made me think that the kiss might have meant something.

But we were both tipsy how could it?

"Addie are you okay?" Caleb asked me, one night when we were studying in the library.

"I'm fine!" I snapped at him. He had been asking me that all week and I was fed up. I was fed up with everything.

Al avoiding me made me feel guilty because it made me feel like I did something wrong when I didn't. And I couldn't help but feel bad whenever I looked at him and remembered the kiss and how right it felt. And sometimes I would be kissing Caleb and then I would think to myself "You know this is nothing like kissing Albus." Which made me feel like a bad girlfriend. Caleb has constantly been asking me all week if I was okay and I told him I was fine every time and now I was just fed up.

"You don't need to ask me every ten seconds if I'm fine," I hissed at him.

Caleb was clearly taken aback. "Well you've been in a different mood for the past week. You seem like something's bothering you. So sorry that I actually care about my girlfriend."

"Yeah well maybe what's bothering me is you asking me what's bothering me all the time!" I said.

"Okay what is with you?" Caleb said, putting his quill down. It was clear he was angry now. "Ever since Halloween you've been walking around with a pissed off and annoyed attitude and it's as if no one can do anything right! Merlin are you on your period or something?"

"So just because I've been in a bad mood, that means I'm on my period?!" I asked him. I hate it when guys think it's okay to blame a girl being moody on her period. Maybe we're just in a bad mood! "Maybe I'm just in a bad mood because my boyfriend thinks it's okay to blame me being pissy on my period! I'm not on it by the way. I'm just annoyed with you and everyone else!"

"What did I do?" Caleb asked. "I have been no different to you than I have before, it's you that changed! What the fuck happened in that haunted house? Did Potter try something?"

"This has nothing to do with Albus!" I said, although it had everything to do with Albus. "Maybe it's just me! Maybe you don't know me well enough to know that sometimes I get pissy and want to be left alone!"

"Fine," Caleb said and he started packing up his stuff.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm leaving you alone," Caleb said. "Come find me when you are less pissy and don't want to be left alone. I would hate to upset you more than you already are."

"Caleb," I said as he walked away. I closed my eyes and felt the tears threaten to fall.

It was our first fight. We've been together for about a month and we had our first fight because I couldn't stop thinking about another boy.

I was such a bad girlfriend.

I went up to my dorm and said hi to Louis and Alice, who were cuddling by the fireplace. They weren't official yet, but they may as well have been.

Caleb ignored me the entire next day, leaving me alone like he promised. He ate all his meals with his friends at the Hufflepuff table and didn't even look at me once.

I missed him.

"What's going on with you and Caleb?" Alice asked me at dinner that night.

"We got in a fight," I said, poking my potato with my fork.

"You two are still together right?" Alice asked and I saw Albus looking at me with a questioning look, as if asking me if I told Caleb about our kiss.

"Yeah," I said. I saw Albus go back to stabbing his food with his fork.

"Well do I need to go beat some sense into him?" Scorpius asked from beside me.

Rose hit him on the shoulder. "I'm sure they don't need you to get involved, Scorp."

Since Halloween, they had been very flirty and adorable toward each other.

Even though Rose stills says she doesn't like him.

"No, you don't Scorp," I said, looking down at my food. "This one is my fault."

Scorpius put his arm around me and kissed my head. "It'll get better. Any guy who would let you get away is an idiot."

"Sure," I said sarcastically.

"It's true," Scorpius said, lowering his voice to a whisper. "The boggart is wrong. Stop thinking it's right."

"Thank you," I said, wrapping my arms around him. "I love you Scorp. Malfoy's until the end."

"I love you too," he said. "Malfoy's to the end."

I could not have asked for a better cousin.

I saw Caleb get up from the Hufflepuff table and walk towards the doors.

"I got to go," I said, getting up off the bench.

"Go win your man back!" Alice said, laughing. Louis put his arm around her and kissed her head.

I ran to catch up to Caleb as he walked out the door.

"Caleb," I said, grabbing his arm. "Hi."

"Hi," he said.

"Can we talk?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I suppose," he said.

I grabbed his hand and we walked in silence. When we reached the library, I think we both knew where I was headed.

When we reached the Restricted Section, I didn't stop walking until I was in the exactly place that we had our first kiss.

Caleb let go of my hand and pulled out a chair from the desk. "So you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah," I said, sitting on the desk. "Do you remember what happened here?"

Caleb nodded. "Our first kiss. You brought me down here to spite James."

I nodded. "If someone told me that's how I would meet my boyfriend, I don't think I would have believed them." I looked down at my hands. "I'm sorry at snapping at you yesterday. I didn't mean to."

"It's okay," he said. "I knew you were upset, I shouldn't have gotten so pissed off."

"No," I said shaking my head. "You were worried about me. I shouldn't have gotten so upset about that. I'm just not used to having people other than my friends worry about me."

Caleb grabbed my hand and pulled me into his lap. "I'm your boyfriend Addie. If you're upset, I'm going to wonder what's wrong. And maybe I overreacted but I thought you wanted to break up with me."

"I don't," I said. "I don't want to break up with you. I'm happy with you."

I'm safe with Caleb. I didn't have to take risks with Caleb. I didn't have to worry about not feeling good enough. I didn't worry about him breaking my heart.

He was a safety net and I knew he would be there for me.

"Good," he said. "We've been together a month. We were bound to have a fight. But we're okay now right?"

"Yeah," I said. "We're okay."

Caleb smiled. "I missed you, today."

"I missed you too," I said. "Let's never get in a fight again, okay?"

"Okay," Caleb said, reaching his head up to kiss me.

We made out in the library for about a half hour, making up for not talking today. When he pulled away and said that he still had Charms homework, I reluctantly got off his lap and let him walk me to my dorm.

I put my arms around his neck when we reached the portrait hole. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Caleb said, stealing a quick kiss. "See you tomorrow."

I kissed him, glad to have him back. He walked away and I watched him as he turned the corner, a huge smile plastered on my face.

"So you guys are still together?"

I closed my eyes and turned around to face Albus. "Yeah," I said. "We're still together."

"Does he know?" Albus asked.

I shook my head. "I figured I didn't need to tell him."

"Why?" Albus asked.

"Because it was a mistake," I said. "It meant nothing to either of us."

"How do you know it meant nothing?" Albus asked, seeming genuinely hurt.

"Because we were both tipsy!" I said. "We were both drinking that night and while we weren't completely drunk, we still weren't in the right state of mind. We never would have done that sober and drinking makes you do things you normally wouldn't do."

"Actually drinking makes you do things you're too afraid to do when you're sober," Albus said. "And you kissed me back."

"I never said I didn't!" I said. "And who cares why drinking makes you do things, the point is you wouldn't do them sober! And we both drank that night so it doesn't matter!"

"It does matter!" Albus yelled. He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I didn't have a single drink that night. Now what does that tell you?"

I was speechless. He hadn't drunken that entire night.

He kissed me because he wanted to.

We stood there, staring at each other for a few seconds. I had no idea what to say.

"You didn't drink at all?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "I didn't have any alcohol."

I had no idea what to do. Because I could no longer brush this off as a meaningless kiss.

It meant something, whether I wanted to or not.

"Alice come back!"

We both looked down the hall, where Alice was running away from Louis, crying.

"Alice," I said, running to her. I pulled her into a hug. "Alice what's wrong?"

"He, he was in a broom cupboard," she said, in between sobs. "With another girl. They were kissing."

"What?" I said. I felt the anger raise inside me. Alice never cries, not over anything.

And now she was crying over Louis.

He is now a dead man.

"Alice let me explain," Louis said, reaching us.

"Alice go into the dorm, and find Rose," I said to her, pushing her into the Common Room. I turned on Louis. "What the actual fuck?!"

"Addie, let me explain," Louis begged.

"Explain what?!" I yelled at him. "You were in a broom cupboard with another girl! Alice is crying over you! She never cries!"

"Addie, listen-"

"No, you listen Louis Weasley," I said. "You will stay the fuck away from her. If I ever see her crying because of you again, I promise you, that will be the end of you and our friendship. I can't believe you Louis. I actually thought you were going to be good for her. I actually thought that you liked her. Well I guess I was fucking wrong."

I ran into the Common Room and up to my dorm. Alice was lying on her bed with Rose hugging her and I saw that she was crying as well.

I went to the bed an engulfed them both in a hug, starting to cry myself. I hated seeing Alice cry and I felt my heart breaking for her. I knew that I would do the same for Rose and they would do the same for me.

"I really liked him," Alice said. "I really, really liked him."

"I know," Rose said. "I know."

"It'll be okay," I said. "You have us."

As long as the three of us had each other, nothing could hurt us.

* * *

A/N: I'm not a huge fan of this chapter. But I hope you enjoyed it! Yay another fast update! But super cute action between James and Addie. I love their relationship.

And Louis sucks right now. Poor Alice.

Please review!


	12. The Madness of Awkward Island

The next day was pure awkwardness. It's like we crashed on awkward island.

Not on Alice's part. Alice seemed to be handling the whole thing really well, acting like she didn't cry herself to sleep the night before.

I really admired her.

She did ignore Louis though, didn't even look in his direction, even when he made puppy dog eyes at her. It was clear that she didn't want to have any contact with him.

Once though, during Charms, I saw her looking over at him and saw that she was about to cry. I nudged Rose and Rose saw and put her arm around her, trying to comfort her. But Alice just pushed her away, saying that she would be fine and wiping her eyes.

"I don't know why she won't let us help her," Rose said as we walked down to lunch. Alice had gone up to the dorms to get a book. "We know she's hurting and we hate seeing her like that. We're her best friends, of course we are going to be there for her."

"Maybe she doesn't want to seem weak," I said. "Maybe she feels like she should be stronger or something."

"Maybe she's been strong for too long," Rose said. "What if she needs someone to take care of her?"

"Rose," I said, pulling her aside. I saw that she looked upset, almost insulted that Alice wouldn't accept her help. "Alice doesn't like crying, you know that. There's a reason as to why last night was one of the only times we've ever seen her cry."

"I just want to help her," Rose said, looking at her hands. "I hate seeing her like this and I want to kill my cousin for doing this to her."

"I think that she is pretending to be fine," I said. "And she thinks she's doing a good job of it. But once you or me try to comfort her, she knows that she isn't fooling anyone, and she breaks down. What she needs us to do, is be there for her when she's ready to accept our help."

"And when will that be?" Rose asked, frustrated. "I can't just sit around here, waiting for her to come crying to me! I don't work like that! I take care of people, I take care of you and Alice! And to see her so upset and knowing I can't do anything...it sucks. I want to help her but I know nothing I do will make this better."

"Oh, Rosie," I said, pulling her into a hug. "Alice needs you. And I know it's hard right now to see her like this, but we just have to wait. I get the feeling that once it's just the three of us, Alice will have no problem crying on your shoulder. But right now, in school, she doesn't want anyone to see her cry." I pulled away from Rose. "But I'm ninety nine percent sure that tonight, she will be so glad that she has you looking out for her. We just have to be there for her and respect her choices of when she'll let us comfort her."

"I guess you're right," Rose said. She sighed. "My cousin is such a dumbarse."

We walked down to the Great Hall and sat down.

"Where's Alice?" Louis asked, from his spot next to me. Unfortunately, because of the amazing friend I am, I swapped seats with Alice this morning, so now I was sitting in between Louis, who I wasn't speaking to because of the whole Alice thing and Albus, who I wasn't speaking to because of the whole kiss might have actually meant something thing.

It was a little awkward.

I glared at him. "I don't think that's any of your concern."

"Addie," Louis said. "I know that I'm a dick for doing that to her but that doesn't mean I don't care about her."

"Well if you care about her then you have a funny way of showing it," I said. "Since when is kissing someone who you aren't dating a sign that you care about them? Cheating is one of the worse possible things you can do."

Albus started choking on his lunch next to me. James came and hit him on the back.

"You okay little bro?" James asked Albus.

"Yeah," Albus said and turned to me. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What?" I asked him.

"Cheating is one of the worse possible things you can do?" he said.

"Well it is!" I said. "Are you saying it's not?"

"Of course not!" Albus said, getting annoyed. Man he looks hot when he's annoyed. "But I do think that when you cheat, you clearly don't care about the person you're with enough, even though you try to brush it off as a dumb mistake."

We aren't talking about Alice and Louis anymore are we?

"Especially when you blame it on drinking," Albus said.

Nope, we're definitely not talking about Alice and Louis.

"Well, maybe it was just a dumb mistake!" I said. "Maybe it didn't mean anything because drinking was involved!"

"You're forgetting that someone might not have had a drink, so that excuse doesn't work," Albus said. "Maybe the cheater is too afraid, for whatever reason, that it did actually mean something and they felt something that they don't feel with the person they're in a relationship with. Maybe they actually have feelings for the person they cheated with but don't see them for some reason."

Albus and I looked each other in the eyes. I couldn't think of what to say in response. He was telling me that the kiss meant something to him and that he knew it meant something to me. And because it meant something to me, I couldn't like Caleb because I have feelings for Albus.

Could I have feelings for Albus?

"Wow," James said, standing behind me. "You could cut the sexual tension with a knife." He pushed Albus over and sat down in between the two of us. "Sorry, but I'd rather not watch you two have eye sex while I eat my lunch."

I looked up at Scorpius to see him giving me a pointed look. I tried to have a telepathic conversation with him but he didn't seem to understand.

He looked over at Albus and they looked at each other, giving a few head nods and such and Scorpius looked away a look of understanding on his face. Then he looked at Rose, doing more head nods, and Rose nodded back before returning to her food.

What the fuck, Scorpius?

You seem to have telepathic conversations with everyone else but me.

"Hey, Alice," Rose said, as Alice sat down next to Scorpius.

"Hey Rosie," Alice said with a smile. "Hey Scorp, Al, James, Addie."

She greeted me with a smile, but I saw the redness in her eyes.

She had been crying.

And Rose and I weren't there.

"Hey Alice," Louis said, quietly, almost scared.

Alice stopped putting food on her plate and focused on the potatoes. For a rare and unusual moment, everyone was quiet, waiting to see what Alice's response would be. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

"So James, how's Seventh Year treating you?" Alice said, scooping potatoes onto her plate.

I felt Louis deflate beside me and saw him start poking peas on his plate. He looked so miserable.

I felt bad for him. This wasn't the Louis I knew, sad and depressed, sending longing glances over at Alice every time she laughed or smiled. The Louis I knew was the one who had a smile that lit up an entire room and was the reason why Alice smiled.

I hated seeing one of my best friends like this.

I was about to put my hand on his back, to comfort him, but another hand beat me to it.

"Hey Louis," said a Seventh Year Slytherin. She was blonde, tall and wearing a skirt that was way too short and her shirt had the first few buttons unbuttoned.

We go to a school where you're required to wear a uniform and she still managed to look like a slut.

From the look on Alice's face (it basically said "Fuck you bitch, you better leave before I cut you) and Louis' face (which basically said "Shit. Are you fucking kidding me? Why the fuck are you here? You need to leave NOW") I figured this was the girl that Louis hooked up with.

Well, she's about to get a taste of the Addie Malfoy temper.

"Hi," I said, standing up, extending a hand. I put on a fake smile and acted like I wasn't about to bitch her out. "Who are you?"

"Oh," she said, seemingly surprised by me speaking.

Louis looked a little scared, Alice was smirking (she knew what was coming), Scorpius was watching Rose as Rose put her face in her hands (I think she mumbled "Here she goes.") Scorpius rubbed her shoulder soothingly (IF I WASN'T ABOUT TO KICK THIS GIRL'S ASS I WOULD GO OVER THERE AND FORCE THEM TO BE MARRIED), James was checking the girl out (gee James, I wonder why Annalise said no when you asked her to dance at the party...MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE A HUGE MANWHORE. But I still love you) and Albus was only looking at me. He was looking at me, as if mentally betting what I was going to do to her. When he saw that I caught him, he gave me a small smile.

"Give her hell," he mouthed at me. "Pretend it's me."

I smiled remembering all the fights that we've had. In that moment, there was no awkwardness between us over the kiss. And it almost made laugh at how dumb we were being. He knew what I was going to do to her, but he didn't try to stop me, as Caleb would have, he cheered me on. He knew me better than my own boyfriend.

Which isn't a good thing.

"I'm sorry," I said to her, newfound confidence bubbling inside me from Albus. "You never said your name. I believe I asked you who you were and how you know Louis. So you going to tell me or are you just going to stand here like an idiot?"

She looked taken aback and didn't say anything. "I..."

"I'm waiting," I said.

"I'm Ella," she said. Wow that's a whore name. "And I know Louis because he's..." She ran her hand across his back and I saw Louis tense up as if it burned him. Alice was looking at her as if she wanted to personally burn Ella in Hell. "He's a friend." She said with a seductive smile.

"I'm sure," I said, giving my fakest smile and restraining myself from ripping her hair out on Alice's behalf. "So basically...you're the whore who he hooked up with yesterday?"

"I'm sorry what?" Ella said.

"Were you aware that he was basically in a relationship with another girl?" I asked her. "Because the entire school knows and unless you've been living under a rock or you're just plain stupid, you would know too. " I looked at her up and down. "And since your nails seem perfect with no clues of living under a rock, I'm just going to assume that you're stupid, which isn't hard to believe, trust me."

"Louis, are you just going to let her talk to me like that?" Ella asked Lou, as if asking him to help her.

Louis didn't even look up at her as he said, "Yep."

"What?!" Ella cried. "But I thought I was special!"

"You fucking whore where did you get that idea?" I asked her. Now most of the Gryffindor table was watching us. "Because anyone who hooks up with someone in a broom closet isn't that fucking special." I got closer to her and grabbed her wrist off of Louis' back. "Now get your fucking hand off my friend's man."

She pushed me away in disgust. "I'm the whore? That's rich coming from you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked her. I never do anything whorish! And when I do it's normally Candi.

"Drop the innocent act, Malfoy," Ella said. "I've heard everything about you."

"Well would you like to tell me?" I asked her. "Because I bet nearly all of it's false."

"Really?" Ella said. "I doubt that." She smirked at me. "Your little boyfriend is cute," she said nodding over to the Hufflepuff table, where Caleb said, oblivious to what was happening. "Does he know he's just a toy in yours and Potter's little game?"

I looked over at Albus and saw that he looked just as confused as I did.

"What the fuck does that mean?" I asked her. Albus and I don't play a game.

"Everyone knows about you and Potter," she said.

"Really?" I asked her. "Because I don't."

"Drop the fucking act, you aren't fooling anyone," she said. "Everyone knows that you and Potter are fuck buddies."

I'm sorry what did she just say?

Did she say what I think she said?

"What?!" I screamed.

"Everyone knows about the hot nights you guys have, in classrooms, bathrooms, out by the lake," she said smirking. "And, for whatever reason, you went and got yourself a boyfriend. Maybe you and Potter ended things and you just want to make him jealous. Or maybe, you and Potter decided to take a break and try and move on from each other. But let's face it, this is probably what happened when he dated Erica, right? You guys try to move on only to get the spark back. I've heard all the stories."

"They're all fucking lies," I said. "You're the whore, don't try and spin this on me. You're the one who ruined my friends' relationship."

"Fine, maybe I am a whore," she said. "But I'm not as big a whore as you. And let's face it, your mother was a whore and so are you. It's in your blood."

At that point, I had enough and slammed my fist into her jaw.

I was about to do more damage, trust me that girl wasn't going to be able to every look decent again when I was through with her, but Albus came and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me against him.

"Let me go!" I said, kicking and screaming. "Let me beat her bony ass!"

"No," Albus said, tightening his grip on me. "You'd get kicked off the team and I would rather not have you die because of my brother."

"Right, Malfoy," she said, getting up. "You and Potter totally aren't fuck buddies."

At that point, Alice appeared to have enough. She leapt over the table (literally she LEPT over the TABLE. She was pissed off) and punched Ella right in the nose.

"Back the fuck off of my friends," Alice said. "And stay the fuck away from them, including Louis. If I ever see you near him or any one of my friends again, you'll be lucky to ever be able to walk again."

"I'm not scared of you," Ella said.

"You should be," Alice smirked at her. "Remember when Flint got a broken nose and two black eyes and wouldn't tell anyone why?" Alice smiled. "That was all me."

Ella's eyes widened. Marcus Flint II was one of the biggest guys in school and everyone was scared of him. Everyone but Alice that is. He made a pass at her and when he didn't take the word "no", she beat him up.

She's such a badass.

Alice put on a fake smile, that was so sugarcoated it couldn't be anything but fake. "It was nice to meet you."

Ella ran off.

"Addie, stop kicking Albus," Alice said, turning to me. I stopped kicking Al's legs and he let out a sight of relief and rested his face on my head.

"That hurt, Addie," he said.

I turned my face up to him. "Sorry," I said, smiling at him.

"It's okay," Al said, hitting my nose with his.

"Aww, aren't they sweet honey?" James said lovingly to Louis. Louis looked very creeped out that James referred to him as honey. "Today, Albus is saving Addie from killing a hot girl and soon they'll be getting married and having little blue and green eyed babies." James sighed and rested his head on Louis' shoulder. "Our babies our growing up."

James, if you act like this around Annalise, then she probably thinks you're gay.

Which could explain why she doesn't want to date you.

"James get the fuck off my shoulder," Louis said.

James lifted his head and smirked over at Albus and me. "Nice going little bro."

It was at this point that Albus and I both noticed that he was still holding me around the waist and that I had relaxed into his chest, almost naturally.

So all the awkwardness over the kiss that had somehow disappeared?

Yeah, it all came flooding back.

Albus and I quickly detached ourselves and sat back down. My face was burning red and James put his arms around Albus and I. "One day soon," he said to me. "One day soon."

Cryptic much?

Thankfully, the bell rang.

"Well we better go to Defense," I said, awkwardly.

"You guys have Defense next?" James said. "You guys are in for a treat."

"What does that mean?" Albus asked him.

"You'll see," James said and with a smile he was off.

"When did he become so cryptic?" I thought out loud.

"I have no idea," Albus said.

The six of us headed off to Defense and each of us was curious about this "treat" that James promised us.

Whenever James says there's a "treat" it's never a good thing.

We walked in the classroom and headed to our regular seats. Well, all of us except for Rose.

"You coming Rose?" I asked her, pointing at the seat next to me.

Rose shook her head. "Read the board."

Everyone, stand at the side of the classroom and wait for your new seating arrangements. These seats will be permanent for the rest of the year and no exceptions will be made. Thank you very much, Your New Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher

"New teacher?" Scorpius asked. "Why are we getting a new teacher?"

"Professor Harrison could barely teach!" Rose said. "It's a wonder he didn't quit at the beginning of the year. Hopefully the new teacher is someone good."

The rest of the class filed in and all of us stood at the side of the classroom, just as the instructions said.

When the bell rang there was no sign of our teacher.

After five minutes of waiting, someone tried the office and they weren't up there.

"Where on earth is our teacher?" Rose asked.

Scorpius shrugged. "Maybe he's just running late."

"Teacher's shouldn't run late!" Rose said. She looked at the board again. "He gave us instructions and everything." She studied the board a bit more. "That handwriting looks familiar."

"Only you would remember someone's handwriting," Albus said laughing.

"No I'm serious," Rose said. "It kind of looks like T-"

But the door opening cut her off.

"Teddy!" Rose yelled as she ran to hug the man who just walked in the door.

"Hello Rose," Teddy said.

I'm starting to think that in order to be a part of the Wotter family (Teddy isn't blood related but he's Harry's Godson and has basically been married to Victoire since they were five) you have to be good looking. I'm serious! There isn't one bad looking one in the bunch!

Teddy is tall, with broad shoulders, chocolate brown eyes and hair that is constantly changes color, though now it's on an electric blue.

You have to be extremely hot to still look hot with blue hair.

Albus and Louis went to the door to greet their cousin or whatever he was and I could feel the confusion from all the other students. Well, it was confusion from the guys; the girls were probably wondering what this hot guy with blue hair was doing here.

That's actually a really good question.

"What are you doing here Ted?" Albus asked.

Did I not just ask that question in my head? How did Albus know that?

That's a little creepy.

"Actually, Mr. Potter," Teddy said, confusing Albus by using his last name. "It's Professor Lupin."

"You're kidding!" Louis said.

"Nope," Teddy, er, Professor Lupin said. "Now, I have the rest of my class to introduce myself too."

Teddy pulled himself away from Al, Lou, and Rose and walked to the front of the classroom. "Hello!" He said brightly. "As you may have heard, I am Professor Lupin and I will be your teacher for the rest of the year."

"Hell yeah!" Scorpius said, earning him to be hit in the arm by Rose. He just smirked at Rose and hugged her, only to let her go quickly, both of them blushing.

Seriously. Just get married.

"Language, Scorp," Teddy said, smiling. "I'll give out your new seating assignments now and like it says on the board, they will not be changed." Teddy went through a few rows before he said, "Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley."

They both smiled at each other and both turned a pinkish shade.

They are trying to kill me with their cuteness.

"Hopefully we'll be near each other," Alice whispered in my ear.

"You sure you don't want to be sitting next to Chase over there?" I asked her, nodding to a Ravenclaw that was checking her out. I noticed that Louis was glaring at him. "He seems interested."

Alice looked over and smiled at him. "Too bad I'm not."

"Alice Longbottom and Louis Weasley," Teddy said, pointing to a desk a few rows from the back.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Alice whispered in my ear. "Never mind, I'll take Chase."

"You coming?" Louis asked Alice and they both awkwardly headed to their seats.

Man, I hope I don't get paired up with someone where it will be that awkward.

Well, maybe I'll get paired up with Chase. He's pretty cute.

If only I didn't have a boyfriend...

I don't really care who I have to sit next to because I highly doubt that it will be awkward.

The only person it would be awkward with is if I was paired up with Albus.

And Merlin doesn't hat me that much.

"Addison Malfoy and Albus Potter."

Merlin what did I do to deserve your hatred?

Albus and I both walked awkwardly to the back row, where we were sitting.

"Now remember these seats are not going to be changed," Teddy said walking back to the classroom.

This is going to be awkward.

* * *

"Addie, Albus could I speak with you?" Teddy asked us after class.

"What did you do?" I asked Albus.

"Me? I didn't do anything," Albus said to me as we got our stuff.

We walked up to Teddy's desk, not knowing what was coming.

"How'd I do today?" Teddy asked.

"Good," I said, smiling. "You'll be a great teacher."

Teddy sighed. "That's good to know. Now I didn't call you up here so you could evaluate my teaching. I wanted to talk to the both of you." Oh this isn't good. Whenever teachers want to talk it's never a good thing. "Addie, I have noticed your grade in this class has been...well..."

"It sucks," I said, answering for him. "I've been trying to get it up though."

"Do you have a tutor?" Teddy asked me. I shook my head and he turned to Albus. "Albus your grade on the other hand is very high, in fact it's the highest in the class."

"Of course it is," I mumbled. Albus shot me his jerk smirk.

"So I came up with a decision," Teddy said. "Albus will tutor you."

"What?!" We both said.

I think Teddy is trying to make every person feel awkward. First he puts Alice and Louis sitting next to each other after he cheated on her, and then not only is he making Albus and I sit together, but he wants us to spend even more time together! Alone! As if avoiding him in the Common Room wasn't hard enough! We'll be forced to talk about the kiss!

"No protests," Teddy said. "I want you two to meet everyday to work on your homework and study for tests. And I expect you to work in the library, not the Common Room. There are too many distractions in the Common Room."

"How long do sessions have to be?" Albus asked.

"As long as it takes for her to understand the material," Teddy said.

"We're never going to leave the library," I said. "Caleb's going to be thrilled."

"Who's Caleb?" Teddy asked me.

"Her boyfriend," Albus said, hatred obvious in his tone.

Teddy looked between Albus and I and smiled. "I expect you two to start tonight."

"Bye Teddy," I said to him.

"Bye Ted," Albus said and we both walked out the door.

"Great," I said. "Just great."

"You think I'm thrilled about this?" Albus asked me. "You've been ignoring me ever since Halloween and now I have to take my own personal time to tutor you."

"I've been ignoring you for a good reason," I said, turning on him. The bell rang and students ran to class but unfortunately, I couldn't use class as an excuse to get out of this one. Albus and I both had free periods.

"And what's that?" Albus asked.

"Because you kissed me!" I said to him. "And at first I brushed it off as a mistake because we both were drinking but then you say that you didn't drink a single thing that night! And now I'm confused on whether it meant something or it didn't!"

"What's so confusing about it?" Albus asked me. "You either felt something or you didn't. And you can't blame this all on me. You could've pushed me away but you didn't." I tried to think of a way to turn this around on him. "And you kissed me back. In fact it was you who put your tongue in my mouth first."

"I have a boyfriend," I said.

"So what?" Albus asked me, slamming his bag on the ground out of frustration. "Stop using that excuse Addie! Stop using that as a way to not talk about this. If you didn't have a boyfriend, then would that kiss have meant something to you? Forget about Caleb, forget about everything and just tell me if you felt something. I won't run off and tell anyone, I just want to know if I've been going crazy over a kiss that meant nothing."

"You've been going crazy over it?" I asked him quietly, meeting his eyes.

"Yeah," Albus said just as quietly. "I can't stop thinking about it."

I looked into his beautiful eyes and got the overwhelming urge to kiss him again and never stop. To have that feeling of right come over me and to run my fingers through his hair.

"It meant something," I whispered. "I didn't want to feel anything...but I did."

It was just the two of us in the hallway and it would've been so easy to kiss him.

"You felt something?"

"Yeah," I said. "I shouldn't have though."

"But you did," Albus said.

I nodded. "But I did. But it can't happen again."

"Why?" Albus asked me, a look of hurt coming across his face.

"Because I'm with Caleb," I said. "I like him and I'm happy with him. It's not fair to him."

Albus nodded. "It won't happen again."

I tried to ignore the sadness that filled my body. My hormones were yelling at me for saying that I would never kiss him again. "Good."

"Are you ever going to tell him?" Albus asked me, picking up his bag.

I shook my head. "I get the feeling that him finding out you're tutoring me is enough."

Albus looked over my head. "Well good luck with that," he said and walked behind me. I turned and saw that Caleb had just turned the corner. "Caleb," he said nodding as he went.

"That was strange," Caleb said. "Normally Potter just ignores my existence."

"Well maybe he's trying to get on better terms," I said, wrapping my arms around Caleb's neck and kissing him. "I need to tell you something."

"That's never a good conversation starter," Caleb said, as he held my waist. "What's up?"

"Al is going to be tutoring me in Defense," I said and I saw Caleb's face fall.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm failing and he's the top student, " I said. "Ted- Professor Lupin thought that it would make sense for him to tutor me." I saw Caleb looking a little pissed off and jealous. "It makes sense, you know."

"I know it does," he said. "But can't Rose tutor you? Or...anyone but Albus?"

"Why does it matter who tutors me?" I asked him, starting to get annoyed because it seemed like he didn't trust me with Al. Which, okay, maybe we kissed once but that wasn't happening again! "Do you not trust me?"

"Of course I trust you," Caleb said. "I trust you, I just don't trust him." Caleb sighed. "I'm acting like one of those dumb, jealous, boyfriends aren't I?"

I smiled because Caleb being jealous was actually kind of cute. "Yeah," I said, pecking him on the lips. "But you're my dumb, jealous boyfriend." I let out a sigh and rested my head on his shoulder. "You don't need to worry about Albus. There's nothing going on with us."

At that point, I didn't know whom I was trying to convince.

* * *

A/N: So if you're wondering why I'm updating so quickly, it's because I have written up to chapter 25 on HPFF. So I'm trying to catch this up right now!

Anyway, how'd you like this chapter? I like it personally. Lot's of action. Lot's of awkwardness.

Please tell me what you think! I love hearing from you guys and it makes me write faster!

Xoxo


	13. The Madness of James Stalking

"Okay, so if you're kissed by a Dementor than they take away your soul," I said.

It was late November and Albus had been tutoring me for a few weeks now. We had gotten over the awkwardness of the kiss and had managed to return to the stage of friendship we were at before the kiss. Only now that I knew that the kiss had meant something, I was trying to figure out my feelings for him and what his feelings for me were.

I still had no idea how I felt about him or how he felt about me.

I would say that's making progress.

"Yes," Albus said, moving some papers around.

"But you won't be dead," I said. "You just won't have a soul." Albus nodded and I looked at him confused. "But you can still walk around and live your life without a soul?"

"No, it's much worse than that," he said, lifting some papers up.

"What are you looking for?" I asked him.

"I have this page of notes on Dementor's that I think will help you a lot," Al said.

"Al, the test is tomorrow," I said. "There's absolutely no way that I can pass this. I barely know anything!" I put my head in my hands. "I may as well go get a job as a waitress since that's all I'm going to be able to do anyway because I'm going to fail Sixth Year Defense."

"You aren't going to fail," Albus said. He pulled my hands away from my face. "Addie, look at me." I turned to look at him and, as always, was struck by how good he looked. Ever since this year started, he has gotten more and more attractive. "You know this stuff, I know you do. You just need to calm down and believe in yourself. I know you can pass this test."

"How do you know that?" I asked him. "Are you going to bribe Teddy into giving me a good grade?"

"I don't need to do that," he said, smirking. "You know all this. You're smart and you just need to believe in yourself. Just relax when you're taking the test."

"And how do you suggest I do that?"

"Close your eyes and take a deep breath," Albus said. I did. "Alright, what form does the Patronus take?"

"It depends on the person and whether the Patronus is strong enough to take a form," I said, my eyes still closed. "An incorporeal Patronus will just be a burst of vapor and is much easier to produce than a corporeal Patronus. A corporeal Patronus will take form of an animal and can change." I remembered the story Teddy told us about how his mum's Patronus changed into a werewolf when she fell in love with his dad. "It also depends on a person's personality and will sometimes match their Animagus form."

"And how does one cast a Patronus charm?" Albus asked, his low voice sending my heart into overdrive.

"With a happy memory," I said. "The happier the memory, the stronger the Patronus will be. That is essentially how one will get either a corporeal or incorporeal Patronus. If the memory is a strong, happy memory, then a corporeal will appear. If the memory isn't strong enough, then you will produce an incorporeal. An incorporeal Patronus might work against one Dementor but it won't protect you against a lot of them."

I waited for the next question with my eyes closed. When I got impatient, I opened my eyes to see Al's face, staring at me.

Was he that close to me before?

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he said, smiling. "You just know this stuff so well." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "You're going to do great on the test."

I smiled and looked down at my hand in his.

It looked nice.

And it felt right.

I looked back up at Albus and saw him looking down at our hands too. A piece of hair fell in his face and I used my free hand to brush it away. He looked up at me when I touched him and his green eyes pierced mine. I brushed his hair back and let my hand fall onto his knee.

It would be so easy to kiss him.

I would just have to lean forward and push my lips on his...

"Addie," he said. I love the way he says my name.

"Yeah?" I asked him, leaning forward the smallest amount.

"You have a boyfriend," he said. Instantly, I stopped leaning forward.

"Right," I said, shutting my eyes. "Right."

I pulled my hand back and went back to work.

"It's okay that you want to kiss me," Albus said, giving me his jerk smirk. "I know that I'm unbelievable attractive."

"No you're not," I said. "And I didn't want to kiss you."

"Sure," Albus said, his smirk coming off his face and getting suddenly serious. "But if you didn't have a boyfriend, I would definitely kiss you back."

I bit back my smile at this, trying to think of anything but kissing Albus. I looked around the library to find ideas.

"Ryan!" I said, waving at him to come over to the table.

"Hey Addie, Albus," Ryan said, sitting down. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I'm tutoring Addie," Albus said.

"I'll bet you are," Ryan said, with a pointed look to me. He was the only one I told about the kiss and loved making me feel awkward because of it. "What are you guys studying?"

"Dementors," I said. "And the Patronus charm."

Ryan nodded. "Have you started to try casting the spell?"

Albus shook his head. "Teddy wants us to understand everything before we try casting it."

"Makes sense," Ryan said. He smirked at me. "So any idea of what your memories will be of? It can be anything...a party, hanging out with friends, Halloween, a first kiss, anything."

I glared at him and snuck a peek at Albus. He was looking at Ryan with wide eyes.

"I remember what my memory was," Ryan said, smirking more and more at me. I hate him. Why couldn't he have been one of the super overprotective cousins? Why did he have to make fun of me and make me feel awkward? "It was my first kiss with this girl I liked since I was 11. It was really nice. We were out by the lake at night and it was just a good memory. You know?"

I'm going to kill him.

I tried kicking him under the table but ended up hitting the chair leg and stubbing my toe.

That fucking hurt too.

"Well, Ryan," I said, as Albus turned to look at me with accusatory eyes. "It was nice talking to you. You should go now. Bye."

Ryan laughed and picked up his bag. "Have fun you two," he said with a wink.

There was a moment of silence at the table as we watched him walk away, the awkwardness setting in.

"So, Dementors," I said, awkwardly trying to change the subject. "Man, they sound...depressing."

I'm not making this more awkward at all.

Really, I should be given an award.

"I can't believe you told him!" Albus said.

"I didn't mean to!" I said. "It accidently slipped out!"

"How?" Albus said. "How does something accidently slip out?"

"Well I was talking to him about Halloween and I just said it," I said. "Like I said, it slipped out."

"Yeah, sounds like your tongue," Albus said. "Who else have you told?"

"No one!" I said. "I haven't told anyone except for Ryan and he won't tell anyone!"

"I don't care if he tells anyone," he said. "I just would have liked to know that you told someone."

"Come on, you probably told Scorpius," I said.

"Actually, I didn't," he said. "I didn't tell anyone."

"Well aren't you just...just...special!" I said, mentally beating myself up for not coming up with a better response.

Albus smirked at me. "No I'm pretty sure that's you," he said quietly.

He just called me special.

I looked at him. "Good special or bad special?"

"Good," he said, even more quietly. "There's not really a bad quality about you."

Merlin, it is taking all my will power not to jump on his lap and kiss him until I was pulled away.

He thinks I'm special.

He doesn't think I have any bad qualities.

"Did you forget all the bad qualities that you said I had for the past six years?" I asked him, quietly and slowly.

"I told you, I was an idiot for the past six years," he said. "I would go back and change it all if I could."

"Why?" I asked him. "Why do you want to go back and change everything?"

Albus seemed to be debating something in his head. He ran a hand through his hair.

"Just tell me," I said, quietly. His eyes met mine. "Why do you want to change the past so much?"

"Because then maybe you wouldn't be dating Caleb," he said. "And maybe we wouldn't have to pretend that that kiss never happened."

I tried working that out in my head. He wanted us to know that the kiss happened. He didn't want me dating Caleb. The kiss meant something.

...I got nothing.

"Hey Al and Ads!" James said, sitting down at the table. "Well don't you two look so cute sitting here, studying, having eye sex."

"She has a boyfriend, James," Albus said. "We weren't having eye sex."

"Whatever you say Al," James said. "Whatever you say."

"What are you doing in the library?" I asked James, changing the topic. "I didn't even know where you knew where it was."

I'm not kidding. I've never seen James in the library or talking about the library or reading a library book.

I actually don't think I've ever seen him reading a book.

"Well," James said. "I'm here because she's here." He pointed across the room and I saw Annalise sitting at a table, studying with a few other Slytherins.

"James," I said. "Stalking her isn't going to make her fall in love with you."

"I'm not stalking her!" James said, watching her. "I'm trying to figure out if she has some other boy that she likes."

"And if she does what will you do?" Albus asked.

"Beat him up and/or bribe him to stay away from her," James said, like it wasn't a big deal.

"And how do you plan on finding out if she has a crush on another boy?" I asked, bewildered by James' creepy levels.

"Well, I just observe her from a far for a little while and see if any boy makes a move," he said. His eyes suddenly got wide and he stood up. "Whoa, why is Nott talking to her? What's going on there?"

He started walking in that direction but Freddy and Dom appeared out of nowhere. Freddy guided him back to his seat.

"You need to calm down," Freddy said. "Look, Nott is back to talking to his girlfriend. He doesn't want Annalise."

"Good," James said. "He better stay away from my girl."

"She's not technically your girl," Dom said, sitting on the table. "Considering she says no every time you ask her out."

"That's besides the point Dominique," James said. "She wants me. Deep down."

"Very, very deep down," Dom muttered, only to receive a glare from James. She looked over at Albus and I and smiled. "Hey guys. Sorry about James' stalkerish tendency's interrupting your study date. Glad to see you came around, Addie."

Albus and I both started stammering objections about how this wasn't a date.

"Oh, no he's just tutoring me-"

"She's failing Defense and needed help-"

"Teddy is making him do this-"

"We have a test tomorrow-"

"On Dementors, always a happy topic-"

"And we're doing a last minute review session-"

"Really it means nothing-"

"Nothing at all."

Al and I both smiled at her, acting like kids who had gotten caught eating cookies when we shouldn't be.

Dom just smirked and shook her head. "Already finishing each other's sentences. How cute."

What does that mean?!

Damn her and her Ravenclaw brain.

"Okay, so we're going to get James out of here," Freddy said to us. "Sorry he disrupted you."

"It's fine," I said. "James' stalkerish tendencies were a good excuse for a study break."

"Alright," Freddy said. "Come on, James, we have to go now."

"Why?" James asked. "Annalise isn't leaving yet."

"Yes, but if you stalk her," Freddy said. "She'll probably hate you more than she already does."

James was about to argue more, but Dom was fed up.

"James, get your ass up, I'm hungry," she said. She pulled him out of his chair and dragged him from the library.

She literally dragged him from the library. He was acting like a little kid.

"I love your family," I said, smiling as they left.

Albus shrugged. "They're okay. They get annoying sometimes."

"Yeah but you still have them," I said. "They're still there to annoy you and piss you off. You guys argue and there's so many of you that holidays are always exciting." I looked down at my paper. "I would love to have that."

"You have Scorpius and Ryan though," he said, looking at me.

"It's not the same," I said. "I barely see Ryan because he's always studying and in a different house. And with Scorpius, it's just him. He has his family too, Draco and Astoria and while they treat me like their own daughter, it's different. It's not the same." I looked up at him. "You not only have a crazy amount of cousins who annoy the shit out of you, but you also have your mom, your dad and your siblings. And to you, they may be a burden or make you want to kill them but you still have them. In the end they'll be there for you." I shook my head. "I can't believe you don't see how lucky you are."

Albus was quiet for a minute, thinking over what I said. "I'm sorry," he eventually said.

"What for?"

"Because I was complaining about them," Albus said, nodding toward the door. "I sometimes forget that not everyone has that, especially you. It wasn't fair of me to be complaining about it when it's all you want."

"It's not your fault," I said. "It's not like you made my parents leave, right?" I tried to laugh, making light of our deep conversation.

Albus eyed me for a second and then asked, "How did you know what your boggart was going to be?"

I should've known this question was coming. I had managed to avoid the topic of our Halloween adventure all month but I knew that it was only a matter of time before the question would come up.

"Do you remember two years ago when your house had a boggart in the attic?" I asked him. He nodded. "I wanted to see it. I had only ever seen one in Defense during Third Year and I didn't get the chance to try my spell on it. So I went in there, telling James and Scorpius to wait outside the door and bust in if they had to. Only I put a chair in front of the door so they couldn't come running in and ruin my chance to be near a boggart."

"Why did you want to be near a boggart?" Albus asked me. "Did you want to know what your worst fear was?"

"In a way, yes," I said. "I didn't know what my worst fear was, but I thought it was spiders. I figured I could take it on fine, since it would just be a spider. But I was wrong. I went into the attic and at first nothing happened. And then...my mum appeared. And she started saying similar stuff to what she said on Halloween. Just like Halloween, I was frozen in place and didn't hear Scorp and James banging on the door. They eventually got in, but at that point I was sobbing and in the fetal position on the ground. They had your dad come in and get rid of the boggart for good."

Albus nodded. "I remember that day. Not that part, but I remember dad talking to Mum about how he got rid of the boggart for good. He said it caused too much trouble and that no one should have their fears right under their nose. He said it was dangerous for us kids." He looked up at me. "I remember seeing you crying and was about to make fun of you but then James told me off, warning me not to do anything to upset you even more. I never put two and two together before."

"James yelled at you?" I asked Albus. "I figured it would be Scorpius."

"No, it was James," Albus said. "James is really protective of you. I always assumed there was something going on with you two but he assured me there wasn't after I told him-" Albus stopped talking suddenly, looking down at his papers awkwardly.

"After you told him what?" I asked Albus, confused.

"Nothing," Albus said. "Don't worry about it, Addie. It was in Forth Year, so you don't need to worry about it."

I was about to interrogate him more when he said, "And don't try interrogating me, because I'll just tickle you." He looked up at me, giving me his jerk smirk that was so attractive. "And we both know how well that ended last time."

I blushed and looked away. I was trying to conceal my smile from him. "Shut up."

Al smiled and looked down at his paper. "You're going to do great on this test," he said, changing the topic.

"You really think so?"

Al nodded. "Yeah."

I smiled and looked down at my paper, trying to stop another blush from coming onto my face.

* * *

"ROSE HAVE YOU SEEN MY PJ SHIRT?" I yelled across the dorm that night.

"YOU MEAN SCORP'S OLD SHIRT?" She yelled back from her bed.

"YEAH. THE ONE WITH THE HIPPOGRIFF ON IT."

"HAVEN'T SEEN IT SINCE YOU WORE IT A MONTH AGO."

"ALICE HAVE YOU SEEN SCORP'S OLD SHIRT THAT IS NOW MY PJ SHIRT WITH THE HIPPOGRIFF ON IT?"

"NOPE," Alice yelled through the closed bathroom door.

"Well shit," I said. "Where the hell could it be?"

I started looking through my wardrobe, but gave up when I couldn't find it in two seconds.

I'm not patient.

There's a reason I'm not a Hufflepuff.

"Ad, why don't you just wear a different shirt?" Rose asked, from her bed.

"Because they're all dirty," I said, pointing to the pile of Scorpius' old shirts that was on the ground.

Rose sighed and got out of her bed. "Fine," she said, walking over to her dresser.

Wait was Scorpius' old shirt in there?

Why would it be in there?

Does she have a shrine dedicated to Scorpius?

That's just creepy and hopefully not true.

I looked over at Rose, who was digging in her drawers.  
There appeared to be no shrine there.

Thank Merlin.

"Here," she said, tossing a shirt at me. "Wear this. It's a boy's shirt, so you'll be able to sleep in it, since you refuse to sleep in anything else."

Yes, I can only sleep in boy's old shirts.

It's not weird.

They're fucking comfortable.

"Whose shirt is it?" I asked, putting my arms through the holes. It was big on me, but not too big as some of Scorp's or Lou's shirts were. It was really comfortable and I didn't really ever want to take it off.

"It's Al's," Rose said, getting back into bed.

I froze. "This is Al's shirt?"

"Yeah," Rose said. "You didn't notice that it's one of his old Quidditch shirts? It has his name and number on the back."

I went over to a mirror and saw that Al's name and favorite number, 24, on the back.

Well. This is strange.

I'm wearing Al's shirt.

And I like it.

Is that bad?

"I think I'll go see if I can steal one of Scorp's shirts," I said, walking toward the door.

Rose shook her head and mumbled something.

I'm not sure if I heard it correctly but it sounded like something very, very unlikely to ever happen.

"It's not like you won't be wearing his shirts when the two of you are married."

Rose is clearly crazy.

I walked through the Common Room and up to the boy's dorms, ignoring the looks that I got (I'm assuming that they're from wearing Al's shirt, but you know I am such a fine piece of ass that they could all be staring at me for that too.)

I walked in without even knocking, figuring that Scorpius would be in his room at 10:30 at night.

He wasn't.

The only person in the dorm was Louis. Who I have avoided ever since the whole Alice issue. He was lying on his bed, reading a book and looking absolutely miserable.

I decided to ignore his presence.

I walked over to Scorp's bed and went to his dresser, getting out a shirt to wear. Of course, he didn't have any clean shirts either.

And there was no way I was wearing one of his dirty shirts.

"Nice shirt," Louis said from behind me.

I turned to face him. "Where's Scorp?"

"Prefect duty," he said.

"Oh," I said. "I forgot."

"Is that why you're wearing Al's shirt?" Louis asked, putting his book down.

"No," I said. I looked around the room and saw Al was gone too. "Where's Al?"

"I don't know," Louis said. "Shouldn't you be keeping tabs on your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend, nor will he ever be," I said.

"Wearing his shirt makes people think otherwise, Ads," Louis said. "People may think that you're cheating on Caleb."

"Well you would know all about cheating wouldn't you?" I asked him, my anger rising. I never realized how upset with him I actually was. He looked down in shame. "How could you do that to her? She's not some random slag, she's your friend! And you fooled everyone into thinking you actually had feelings for her!"

"I did have feelings for her!" he yelled. "I _do_ have feelings for her. Even though she hasn't spoken to me in weeks, I still am crazy about her. She's all I think about and I don't know what to do because she wants nothing to do with me. Every time a guy flirts with her or makes her laugh, or, hell, even talks to her, it makes me want to beat the shit of them because she's mine. She's my girl, she's the first girl that I could actually see myself having a relationship with and being happy." He looked down at his bed. "I've never felt this way about a girl."

I could tell he meant it. He meant every single word and wanted nothing more than to be with Alice.

"Then why did you cheat on her?" I asked him quietly, sitting on his bed. "I can tell that you really like her and yet you cheated on her. It doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't," Louis said. "But I got scared. That's no excuse but everything she was making me feel scared me. I have never wanted one girl so much and not just for a hook up. I wanted to be her boyfriend and hold her hands at all times and make her laugh and kiss her whenever I wanted to. I wanted to be that dumb idiot who has a girlfriend. And that scared me. I thought that hooking up with another girl would make it better but it didn't. If anything it made it worse because while I was kissing her, I could only think of Alice and how much better it was to kiss her." Louis ran a hand through his hair. "I sound like a fucking poof."

"Have you ever thought of telling her all that?" I asked him. "It might not make everything okay but Alice would probably forgive you. And who knows what could come of that."

Louis nodded. "I guess. I just don't want her to reject me."

"How do you know she'll reject you?" I said. "And even if she does at least you will have known that you told her everything and tried your best to get her back. You need to fight for her. That's really all anyone wants."

Louis smiled at me. "Thanks Addie."

"No problem," I said smiling back. "I've missed you, Lou. And I know Alice has too."

"I really screwed up didn't I?" He asked, almost like a little kid.

"Yeah," I said. "But you can fix it."

We sat in silence for a while and I played with the end of Al's shirt.

And that's when it occurred to me.

I had Louis back as a friend.

And friends give each other advice right?

Yes. So I will ask his advice, since I need a boy's point of view.

"So since I helped you, could you help me?" I asked him.

"Sure," Louis said.

"Okay, so I have this...friend," I said, casually. "And this friend kind of kissed this boy that she thought hated her. And that she thought hated him. But then they kissed. At first she thought it was a drunken kiss but then the guy said that he didn't drink at all last night. And it gets even more confusing because this girl has a boyfriend and sometimes is kissing her boyfriend and thinks 'This isn't as good as kissing that other boy'. And she also gets butterflies around him. And he seems to flirt with her. A lot. Even though in the past he seemed to have hated her. So...what does that mean?"

Louis had a blank stare on his face, but then suddenly broke out into a huge smirk. "Well...it sounds like you have quite the problem there."

"It's not my problem," I said quickly and Louis raised his eyebrows at me.

"Right," he said. "So...you and Albus kissed, and Albus said that he didn't drink anything. And sometimes you think of him when you're kissing Caleb and you get butterflies around Al." Lou's smirk got bigger. "Addie you're so dumb sometimes."

"Hey! I am not!" I said. "How am I dumb?"

"You deny your feelings very well," Louis said. "At least Al-"

"At least I what?" Al said, walking in the door. Louis looked at me and started laughing. Albus looked at me and asked, "Is he okay?"

"No," I said. "No he's not."

I got off the bed and headed toward the door when Al's voice stopped me.

"Is that my shirt?"

I turned around and knew I was turning bright red. "Um, yeah," I said, playing with the bottom of it. "I needed a shirt and Rose just gave me this one. You can have it back if you want."

Please don't want it back. It's really warm and nice and comfy.

"No," Al said, looking at me in his shirt with a strange look on his face, only to smile. "It looks good on you. Keep it."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem," Al said, smiling back at me.

My hormones are going insane.

"So much skinny love," Louis sang.

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Albus. "I'm going to head back to my dorm."

"I'm going to head down to the Common Room and see if Scorpius is back yet," Albus said, joining me at the door.

"Have fun," Louis said. "Be safe. Use protection."

Al shut the door on Louis, who was singing, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"

"He's such a moron," he said.

"Yeah, he is," I said back, heading down the stairs. We were almost at the Common Room when I tripped.

Only to be caught by Albus, who grabbed me around the waist before my ass could hit the ground.

Unfortunately, I had screamed and therefore the entire Common Room decided to look at us.

"Nothing to see here," I said. "Return as you were."

Everyone looked away, but they broke out into whispers.

And that's when I realized that this looked really bad.

I was coming out of the boy's dorms with Albus while wearing his shirt, while he held my waist.

Awkward.

Al let go of my waist. "You better get to bed so that you're well rested for the test tomorrow."

"Yes sir," I said, walking across the Common Room.

"You'll do great," Albus said, when we reached the stares.

"Thanks for all the tutoring," I said, turning around on the top step to face him. On the step, I was only an inch or two shorter than him.

"No problem," Albus said. "If we need to do a study session at breakfast, let me know."

"Okay," I said. "Thank you." I reached forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him.

"You can pass this test," Al whispered in my ear, holding my waist close to him. "I know you will. I believe in you."

I smiled and pulled away. "Night, Al."

"Night Addie," he said, and I turned around and walked up to my dorm.

I had the same smile on my face when I woke up the next morning.

* * *

A/N: WOOO NEW CHAPTER! There was lots and lots of Al/Ad fluff in there, which is quite adorable if I do say so myself. And no Caleb, which many of you will probably be happy about, but he makes a come back in the next chapter. *Hint hint stuff happens. Intense stuff. Fun stuff. You all will enjoy it, trust me*

Speaking of Caleb, I've noticed that most of the reviews about him were negative. He's not THAT bad is he? He isn't supposed to be hated...he's a good guy. He's just not right for Addie. Opinions of Caleb?


	14. The Madness of Feelings

"Ow, Addie you're sitting on my foot."

"Sorry! It's a little cramped back here, Dom."

"Well we could just get out there and talk to her instead of sitting under a table, waiting for her."

"We can't do that! What would we even say?!"

"How about we walk up to her and say hi? You know like a normal person?"

"Dominique you should know me well enough to know that I am not a normal person."

"Clearly, since we are sitting under a table stalking Annalise."

Yes, Dominique and I are currently underneath a table in the library (I'm realizing that since the beginning of this year I have started spending way too much time in here. It's a bit concerning) trying to figure out a way to talk to Annalise because James asked us to. Dom seems to be under the impression that we can just walk up to her and start talking but I'm smart enough to know that that won't work. We'd fall into an awkward silence and then have no idea what to say.

It would be horrible.

"Well, I'm no longer sitting under this table. My foot is falling asleep," Dom said and before I could grab her blonde hair, she was up and walking toward Annalise.

"Dom!" I said, rushing after her, only to hit my head on the table. "Ow."

I caught up to Dom, still rubbing my head, and we approached Annalise. She didn't look up when we awkwardly stood in front of her table, trying to decide what to say.

"Um, hi," Dom said. Annalise looked up from her work, clearly a bit annoyed that we had disrupted her. "I'm Dom Weasley and this is Addie Malfoy."

"Hi," I said, waving.

Annalise stared at us like we were doing to can-can and asked her to join. "Hi. Can I help you?"

"Well," Dom said, looking at me for help. This is why we should have planned our conversation because now Dom has no idea what to say. "Well, my cousin, James, is, kinda, sorta-"

"Totally and completely in love with you," I said for her. "He doesn't really talk about anything but you and why you don't love him back. It drives him crazy. He really likes you."

Annalise set her quill down and sighed. "Did James send you here?"

"No," I lied. "No, not at all, we came here by ourselves."

"You're a horrible liar," Annalise said. "I barely know you and I know you're lying."

"I'm not that bad-"

"Yes, you are that bad of a liar," Dom said. "Anyway, we were just wondering why you won't give James a chance?"

"You want to know why I won't give James a chance?" Annalise asked. Yeah, I think we want to know that since we just asked you that. "It's because he's an arrogant, pig head who thinks he can do whatever he wants and get away with it. He's so used to all girls falling all over and he takes advantage of it. He plays pranks on innocent people and then acts like he was wronged when he gets in trouble. He's an immature jerk who needs to realize that not everything will fall at his feet just because he's some big Quidditch player and he's the son of Harry Potter." She started packing up her stuff, putting everything away with such force you'd think they were James himself.

"Oh, he's not that bad," Dom said. "I've known the guy for 17 years and I know that he's not as horrible as you make him out to be."

Annalise put her bag on shoulder and looked at Dom with a disbelieving look. "He locked me in a broom cupboard with him, tried to kiss me, proclaiming his love for me and then started making out with another girl the second I forced him to get us out of the broom cupboard. He also ripped up my essay that was worth 30% of my grade in Charms. He also-"

"I think we get it," I said. "James does a lot of dumb, pig headed things. But you would never give him the chance?"

Annalise sighed and looked at us both. "I know you two are just trying to help but I'm sorry. I don't think I could ever date him if he's still an arrogant, immature arse. I just really, really hate him."

"Alright," Dom said, looking a little defeated. "Thanks for talking to us."

Annalise smiled at us and walked out of the library.

"Well James is shit out of luck," Dom said. "She basically despises everything that makes him, him."

"Yeah," I said. "It was worth a shot though."

"Yeah, only now," she said, looking up at me. "We have to tell James."

Fuck.

* * *

"What does that even mean?!" James yelled in the Common Room later that night.

"It means that you have to stop being an arrogant, immature arse, James," Dom said. "It's not that hard to understand, even for a moron like you."

James glared at Dom. "This is my Common Room, Dom, I can very well kick you out."

Dom was about to retaliate but Freddy interrupted her before she could. "No fighting. James, you asked her for help. She found out why Annalise hates your guts. If anything you should be thanking her."

Dom smiled triumphantly at James.

"And Dom," Freddy said, turning towards her. "You shouldn't call James a moron."

"But he is!" Dom cried. Freddy glared at her and Dom calmed down. "Fine, I'm sorry I called you a moron."

"Apology accepted. I'm sorry I threatened to kick you out of the Common room," James said.

"Apology accepted," Dom said, reaching over to James and pulling him into a hug.

Aww, such cute family love.

"Ew, James, did you just burp in my ear?!"

Never mind.

I clamped Freddy on the shoulder. "Such a peace keeper you are."

"That I am," Freddy said proudly. He looked over at Dom and James, who were now arguing, and sighed. "Merlin, if they weren't cousins I'd be surprised that they spent any time together at all. They seem to hate each other."

"Yeah, but James is way too protective of her," I said. "James treats her like she's his own sister. Which is probably a good thing. Although she still somehow manages to get around."

Freddy laughed. "Try as he might, James can't control you, Rose, Lily, Dom, and Roxy when it comes to boys."

"Freddy, you do know Roxy has a boyfriend right?" I asked, referring to Freddy's little sister, who was in fifth year and a Hufflepuff.

"Yes, but that guy better watch it," he said. "Sorry to abandon you Ads, but I have a potions essay I've been putting off for a week, that I should probably do. Make sure those two don't kill each other." He nodded toward Dom and James.

"No promises," I said.

"I can't believe you would say that," Dom said.

"Oh, come on, I was kidding," James said.

"You called me fat!" Dominique said.

"You aren't fat!" James said. "I didn't mean it!"

"Well then why did you say it? Clearly it has crossed your mind before," Dom said.

"Dom, stop being irrational."

"Irrational? IRRATIONAL?! My cousin, my own flesh and blood just called me fat! I'm probably as fat as a whale and I never noticed because I've always been fat! I'm sorry James, am I taking up too much space on the couch with my big, fat butt?! I can't believe you would say that! I thought you were my best friend, my cousin-"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DOM!" I yelled at her. "YOU ARE NOT FAT. STOP WHINING THAT YOU ARE BECAUSE YOU ARE BYFAR ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE I HAVE EVER MET, AND EVEN IF YOU WERE FAT, YOU'D PROBABLY STILL BE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ANYONE IN THIS ROOM. CALM YOUR TITS!"

Yes, I did just say calm your tits.

I'm sane, I swear.

"Fine," Dom said. "I guess I'm not fat."

"You aren't," James said.

"Okay, how about we change the topic yes?" I said, looking at them both with a huge smile on my face pretending everything was all great and dandy.

Dom instantly sat up straight and smiled at me like she had been given an electric shock. "Okay," she said. "I know what we could talk about."

"And what would that be, Dominique?" I asked her.

"You and Albus," she said, smiling.

"Me and Albus...what?" I asked.

"It's not worth trying Dom," James said. "I tried and got nothing out of her."

"Come on Ads," Dom said. "Do you like Albus?"

"I have a boyfriend!" I cried, ignoring the butterflies appearing in my stomach.

No. I couldn't.

I couldn't like Albus as more than a friend could I?

"That didn't answer my question," Dom said.

"Well seeing as I have a boyfriend, I don't like Albus!" I said, ignoring the butterflies and sweaty palms.

Holy fuck, why do I have sweaty palms?

Girls in books get sweaty palms because they like a certain boy and their talking to/about him.

NO. NO. NO.

I DO NOT LIKE ALBUS.

"Addie, come on, tell me!" Dom begged.

"She's not going to tell you anything," James said.

"Who's not telling who anything?" Albus said, appearing next to my chair.

Holy. Fuck.

I think my heart exploded.

THESE ARE NOT GOOD SIGNS.

"Nothing," I said quickly. "No one is telling anyone anything. Dom's just insane. Haha. HA. I'm going to bed now. Bye."

"Yea," Dom said, rolling her eyes. "I'm the insane one."

I tried walking coolly to the staircase but stopped when I heard Al's voice. I turned around to face him.

"Yeah?" I asked, calmly (I hope).

"I wanted to let you know that Teddy's giving back our tests from last week tomorrow," he said. At least, I think he said something like that. I wasn't really paying attention since I was just looking at his mouth and imagining that I could pull it down on top of mine.

These are not good signs.

"Oh that's great," I said, trying to think of other things besides kissing Al.

"Yeah, and I want you to be proud no matter what you get on this test, okay?" Albus said, putting both hands on my shoulders. "You know this stuff and that's more than any letter grade is worth."

DJKSLAFSA. CONTACT. THERE IS BODY CONTACT.

MY HEART IS RUNNING A MARATHON.

HOLY FUCK.

MUST. NOT. KISS. HIM.

I'M ACTING LIKE ONE OF THOSE STALKERISH TEENAGE GIRLS.

MUST STAY COOL.

Eh, hem.

Sorry about that.

"Okay," I said. "Thanks."

And then I walked away as quickly as I could.

What the fuck is happening with my feelings?

* * *

The next day, I was relatively more sane than yesterday.

Yesterday was strange. Maybe someone slipped something in my pumpkin juice.

That would make sense.

"Who's going to Hogsmeade in a few weeks?" Alice asked at lunch.

All six of us rose our hands.

"I need to get Christmas presents," I said, eating my PB&J sandwich. "So I'll probably have to go alone."

"Dang," Alice said. "There's supposed to be this cool new clothing store opening. I thought it'd be fun for you, me and Rose to go shopping in there."

"And what about Al, Scorp and I?" Lou asked her from his seat next to her. "Are we just chop liver to you?"

Louis had apologized to Alice last week, and since they had been on better terms. I could see Louis trying to win her back but Alice was resisting. She only wanted Louis to be strictly a friend, claiming that she couldn't trust him as more just yet, if ever.

It was a bit pathetic to see Louis following after her like a puppy dog, begging for her back.

"I just figured you wouldn't want to go shopping that's all," Alice said. "Scorp, Al, would you fancy going clothes shopping with me?"

"Count me out," Al said, spreading jam on his bread.

Yeah, you spread that jam.

"I think I'll pass," Scorpius said. "Something tells me that shopping would not be the best way to spend my time."

"How else would you spend your time?" Rose asked, looking at him. "It's not like you have some date, right?"

"Well, actually," Scorpius said, awkwardly shifting his eyes. "I, ugh-"

"Oh," Rose said, taken aback. "You do have a date."

Really Scorpius? REALLY?! You had to get a date? You and Rose were almost there, Rose really seems to be into you, even if she won't admit it. Why would you screw that up?!

Ryan had been doing such a good job of making Scorpius jealous that it was obvious to everyone that Scorpius was in love with Rose. It should even be obvious enough to Rose if she paid any attention to that, instead of holding some dumb idea in her head that he could never like her.

"Hey Rose."

Ahh, Ryan. Thank goodness you're here. Maybe you can make Scorpius jealous again and he'll dump whatever whore he's going on a date with and be with Rose.

Rose turned toward Ryan with a smile. "Hey Ryan. What's up?"

Ryan smiled lazily back. "Not much. I just wanted to ask you something." He suddenly became shy, like he was a little embarrassed of what he was going to say. "I know that you probably won't want to but I was thinking that maybe you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

Can I give him the cousin of the year award? Because he's the most amazing cousin for making my other cousin want to kill him. (I'm not kidding Scorpius actually looks like he's going to kill him.)

"Oh," Rose said, shocked by his answer. "Well, I guess so-"

"No," Scorpius said, standing up. "Her answer is no. Back the fuck off Ryan and stay away from her. She's not going to Hogsmeade with you, got it? Hell she won't go anywhere with you. I know you and I know how you play girls and I won't let you do that to Rose. Rose is more than just some girl than you can hook up with okay? She's one of the most amazing people on the planet and deserves more than you, who will just get in her pants and leave. Get the fuck out and if I ever see you flirting with her again, I'll make sure, it's the last thing you ever do."

ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR SCORPIUS FOR FIGHTING FOR HIS GIRL!

WOOOOOOO! OW OW!

Ryan looked at Scorpius and smiled. "Okay, cuz. See you at Christmas."

And with that he walked away.

Scorpius sat back down, looking really confused at Ryan's reaction.

Rose on the other hand, looked murderous. "Are you fucking kidding me Scorp?! You had no right, NO RIGHT, to do that! I can go on a date with whoever and you have no right to tell them no for me, ESPECIALLY when you have a date! It's not fair and it is a free country and I am able to make my own decisions on who to go on dates with and-"

"Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" Scorpius asked, interrupting her speech.

"I-uh," Rose suddenly calmed down when she heard what he said. She had a shocked look on her face. "What?"

"Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" Scorpius asked her. "On a date."

Al, Louis, Alice and I were all watching them waiting for Rose's answer.

If she said no, I would beat her up.

"But what about your date?" Rose asked.

"Don't have one," Scorpius said.

"Oh," Rose said, smiling. "Okay."

"YES!" I said, pumping my fist in the air.

Cue me doing happy dance and having everyone at the Gryffindor table looking at me.

"Uh huh, oh yeah, uh huh, oh yeah," I said, dancing.

"You are so weird," Alice said.

"Look at all the fucks I give," I said, throwing my arms up in the air. The bell rang and I stopped my happy dance.

The next class was Defense.

Which meant I was getting my test back today.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

I walked slowly to class, behind everyone else and took a deep breath before entering the room. I walked to my seat and tried not to puke.

"Ready to get your test back?" Al asked when I sat down.

"No," I said. "I'm trying not to puke from the stress of it."

Al smiled. "You did great. I'm sure of it."

That's doubtful, Al. Very, very doubtful.

Teddy came in and started class. He announced that we were getting our tests back today but that he wouldn't be giving them back until the end of the period.

What kind of teacher does that? That's an injustice! I can't sit through an hour of waiting for my test score! I might actually puke!

Al wrote in his notebook and slid it over to me.

_Calm down. You look like you're going to puke._

I glared at him and grabbed my quill to respond.

_That's because I probably am. I can't wait another 37 minutes to get my test back!_

Al smiled when he read what I wrote.

I'm glad you find my pain enjoyable Al.

And to think I was thinking that I liked you.

_Addie, you did great, I guarantee it. You need to stop worrying and relax. I believe in you._

"Oi, Al, stop writing love notes to Addie and pay attention," Teddy said from the front of the class.

I tried relaxing for the rest of the period. I tried taking notes, looking out the window, doodling, figuring out my feelings for Al, but I couldn't think of anything but that test.

There's no way I passed.

"Alright, class, I'm going to give back your tests."

He walked around, giving everyone their tests back. Al got an O, of course, and when the bell rang, Teddy called, "Addie? Could I talk to you about your test?"

"Shit," I said. "There's no way I did well."

Al grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "I'll wait outside for you."

I smiled, grateful that he would be there and (hopefully) not brag about his perfect score when I find out that I got none right and basically failed out of school.

"Addie," Teddy said.

"How bad did I do?" I asked him, approaching his desk.

"Not too bad," he said, smiling.

"So I didn't completely fail?"

"No, you didn't completely fail," he held my folded up test in his hands. "I want you to be proud of the grade that you got on this, regardless of what the letter says. It's good to see you're improving, even in the slightest."

Well, maybe I didn't get a T, maybe I got a D.

High hopes here.

"Here you go," Teddy said, handing me my folded up test.

I walked out of the room and saw Al waiting by the door as promised.

"Well?" he asked me.

"I haven't opened it yet," I said. I took a deep breath. "Well here goes nothing."

Slowly, I opened up my folded test to see what my grade is. At the last minute, I held it only so Al could see it.

"What are you doing?" Al asked, pushing the paper out of his face.

"I don't want to see it!" I said. "Just tell me if I did better than a T!"

"You did better than a T," Al said, smiling at me. "You did way better than a T. Ads, you got an E."

"What?!" I said, pulling the paper toward me. In bright red ink at the top of my paper was a big E. I looked up at Al in shock. "I...I got an E."

"Yeah," Albus said, smiling at me like I had won the World cup. "You got an E."

"I got an E!" I yelled and flung myself at Albus, my arms going around his neck and my legs wrapping around his waist, clinging to him like my life depended on it. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Al's arms were around my waist in an instant and held me up. "Why are you thanking me, you did all the work!"

I kissed his cheek. "Thank you so much!"

"I knew you could do it," Al said, softly into my ear.

I never wanted to leave this moment in time.

"What the fuck?" I heard a voice say.

I detached myself from Al (sad) and looked behind me to see Caleb standing there, looking pissed.

Right. I have a boyfriend.

I can't hug boys like I'm a baby koala since I have a boyfriend.

I forgot.

"Caleb," I said. "Hi."

"Hi?" Caleb said, looking down at me. "I catch you macking on another guy and all you can say is hi?"

"Caleb it wasn't like that-" I tried to explain.

"Then what was it like?" Caleb asked. "Because it looks to me like you seemed pretty content on your position. What the fuck Addie?"

"Hey, don't yell at her," Al said, stepping in.

"Stay out of this Potter," Caleb said, darkly.

"Al, stay out of this, this isn't your business," I said to Al, then turned back to Caleb and grabbed his hand. "Caleb, let's go somewhere and discuss this-"

"Addie, he has no right to treat you like that," Albus said, pushing me aside. I noticed that students were slowing down to take a better look at what was happening. "Don't treat her like she's a piece of property. She's able to do whatever she wants."

"She's my girlfriend, Potter," Caleb said, stepping closer to Al. "Something you haven't seem to been able to accept, since you always seem to be flirting with her."

"Flirting is a two way street," Al said. "Maybe if your girlfriend actually liked you then this wouldn't be a problem." He pushed Caleb.

"Don't push me," Caleb said, pushing him back. "Addie is my girlfriend, and you need to back," push, "the," push, "off!" Bigger push. "You can't seem to accept the fact that you lost. She doesn't want you, she chose me. When will you get that through your thick skull?"

"If she likes you so much," Albus said, smirking his jerk smirk. Which could only mean one thing was coming. Shit. "Then why did she and I kiss on Halloween?"

Caleb was stunned into silence, but he quickly regained himself and punched Albus square in the jaw. Albus responded by tackling him to the ground, only Caleb managed to get the upper hand and wind up on top of Albus.

"Caleb!" I yelled, trying to get him off of Albus. Caleb threw more punches at Al's jaw and stomach. "Caleb get the fuck off him!"

"You asshole!" Caleb yelled as Albus pushed him off. I pulled Caleb back by the hand and stood in front of him, putting my hands on his chest so that he wouldn't try to get past me again.

"Caleb," I said, trying to hold him steady. "Calm down. Breathe."

"Is it true?" Caleb asked me. "Did you two kiss on Halloween?"

"No!" I lied, hoping that for once, it wasn't obvious. "No it's not true. Please just calm down, Caleb."

I noticed that I was now on the verge of tears.

Great.

I'm turning into one of those overly emotional girls.

"It isn't true?" Caleb asked again.

"No!" I yelled. I turned toward Al. "Tell him it isn't true," I begged. "Please. Tell him the truth."

I saw Al's jaw lock and could tell he was arguing with himself. He glared daggers at Caleb but then his eyes locked on mine, losing all the anger. He just watched me, noticing the tears forming and took a deep breath.

"It's not true," he said. "I said it to piss you off, but it's not true."

He wouldn't make eye contact with me, so I couldn't give any thanks. But what would I say to him? Thanks for lying about the kiss because I think that I really have feels for you but don't want to lose my boyfriend?

That makes no sense.

Caleb looked around at everyone, standing in the hallway watching the three of us. "What are you looking at? Don't you have class to go to?"

They scurried away, the bell ringing as they went.

"Addie," Caleb said, looking down at me. "I have to go to class, but we'll talk about this later, okay?"

I wiped a fallen tear away. "Okay."

Caleb leaned down and kissed me and then rested his forehead on mine, just as Al had so many times before. And it felt wrong. The forehead thing was something Al and I shared, something that only the two of us did, so to have Caleb doing that didn't feel right.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to me.

"It's okay," I said.

Caleb kissed me one last time and then left, heading to his next class. I turned around and saw Al standing there, staring at me with a hurt expression. There was no way I could escape him, either; we both had free period.

We stood in silence for a while, neither of us knowing what to say.

Fortunately, Al spoke first.

"You don't get it do you?" Al asked me.

"Get what?" I said.

"This," he said, motioning between us. "I know that you think it's nothing but sexual tension but it's not. It really isn't and I know that you know that. I can tell that you feel for me exactly how I feel about you."

"You...you have feelings for me?" I asked him, shocked. The butterflies exploded in my stomach and my heart went into overdrive.

"You must be fucking blind not to see it," Al said, shaking his head. "I've made it so obvious, I basically told you and you laughed in my face. And I know you feel the same."

"I have a boyfriend," I said, using the same excuse I always used.

"Stop using Caleb as an excuse to not talk about this! Stop thinking that just because you say you're with him that everyone will assume that you must have feelings for him and none for me!" Albus was close to me now, so close that I could kiss him. But I didn't want to kiss him. I just wanted him to hug me and make me feel like nothing in the world could harm me because his arms were around me. "You admitted that the kiss meant something. And I know that I'm not the only one who has been feeling these feelings that I feel for you. I can tell, just by the way that you look at me, I know you feel something. Why are you so desperate to hold onto Caleb when you don't feel any of the things you feel for me for him?"

The tears were falling from my face now, but not because of Caleb. No, it was because he was right. He wasn't the only one feeling all the things between us because I felt them, full force. As much as I wanted to deny it, I felt it.

"Why are you so afraid to be with me?" Al whispered, in almost a desperate tone.

I looked up at him, not knowing what to say.

What was I supposed to tell him? That I was afraid to be with him because I knew that he could hurt me? I knew that by years of arguing and hating each other, he knew all my weaknesses, could break me without being together, and that giving him my heart would just be more power to do so? He could so quickly change his mind about me and shatter me, leaving me alone and making me feel not good enough, just as the boggart said.

Caleb couldn't do that to me because he didn't have my heart. He didn't know about my past and my insecurities. He didn't hold the power to break me because he didn't know me well enough. But that's why I couldn't lose him. He's the only person who seemed to not know the full story and who made me feel like I would never have to be afraid of losing him because he liked me more than I liked him and I had no long term emotional attachment to him. I'm a horrible person for holding onto him for those reasons, but it's safer this way. Caleb could never hurt me the way Al could.

But I couldn't say that to Al.

My silence was enough of an answer for Al.

He shook his head at me, locking his jaw.

"Forget it," he said, taking a few steps back. I wanted so badly to pull him closer and just have him hold me, and tell him everything. But I didn't. "Just forget everything I said."

"Al..." I said, watching him walk away from me and mentally begging him to come back.

I watched him walk down the hall, not turning back once.

* * *

I found him by the Black Lake, in the exact spot that we had kissed on Halloween. I walked to the lake and stood next to him.

"Can I sit down?" I asked, watching Al as he looked at the lake.

Al shrugged and I sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry," I said to him.

"For what?" he asked.

"For pretending I don't feel something for you," I said, running a hand along the thin layer of snow on the ground. "But I need you to understand that I do have feelings for Caleb. And right now all my feelings are really confused and muddled together and I barely know anything anymore. I'm trying to figure out my feelings, I really am. But...I've never felt feelings for you beyond hate. I've never had a boyfriend before and I'm trying to figure out what is right for my relationship, while also trying to decide how I feel about you, and if that gets in the way of my relationship. I'm trying, Al. Ever since Halloween, I've been trying to figure out my feelings and I can't."

"Maybe you aren't trying hard enough," Al said. "Maybe it would be easier for you if we weren't friends."

I shook my head. "That would probably make everything more complicated. I need you as a friend because no matter what my feelings are for you or Caleb, you're still my friend Al. And I need to find out if my feelings for you are just friend feelings or if they're something more. I care about you, I do. And I'm not asking you to wait around until I figure out my feelings, in fact I don't even expect you too. I just need you to respect my relationship and know that I'm trying to work things out. I haven't been trying to lead you on or hurt you because you have become one of my closest friends and hurting you would kill me. I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear, but it's what I have to say."

Al nodded. "I understand."

"Good," I said quietly.

And we sat there, two friends, sitting in the spot they had once kissed. One of them, knowing exactly how they felt for the other, and the other one, confused beyond belief.

* * *

A/N: I'M SORRY. *hides under covers* Please don't kill me.

I bet a lot of you are mad at me. Especially after I gave you a hint that you would enjoy this chapter if you hated Caleb...I originally planned it differently. Originally, Addie was going to be pissed at Caleb, only to make up later.

And somehow this happened.

Don't blame me. It's Addie's fault. She's telling me what's going on, I'm just writing it.

I actually like this chapter. It shows two different sides of Addie because she's super immature and then mature because of Albus.

I'm glad to see that you all don't hate Caleb because he's a bad person, but more because he is dating Addie. I understand.

Please review and tell me what you think! Even if you want to kill me right now, feel free to say so :D


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